


no fine print

by shyesplease



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-08 06:33:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14099376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyesplease/pseuds/shyesplease
Summary: After an incident arises and things escalate, Barry and Caitlin come up with an agreement they both secretly don't agree with but don't have the strength to end.





	1. chapter one

Barry walked towards Caitlin's medical area, stopping himself in the doorway as his eyes found his favorite M.D. in the corner. He leaned against the door's frame, folding his arms as he watched her gaze into her microscope, eyes scrunched down in immense focus and concentration. When she was like that, Barry noticed a wrinkle in-between her eyes would form, which he admittedly thought made her look adorable. A smile easily morphed across his face as he spotted the little line.

For the past year, Caitlin had been his saving grace - his rock. When Iris left him, ultimately shattering his heart in the process, he never thought he'd recover. However, slowly but surely, Caitlin did as she had always done: she mended him - with talking sessions and movie nights and even singing karaoke for him (sober this time).

She'd always been there for him, making him smile during the toughest times and offering her wise words when he needed the boost. But it wasn't until recently did he truly start to _see_ and _appreciate_ everything she did for him.

She not only was his doctor or a friend to talk to, she restored his hope. Her belief in him as regular ol' Barry and as The Flash transcended anything else he knew, and he felt like he could take on the world because of it. He was lighter on his feet and it reminded him back to the days before things got complicated and messy in his life - before Flashpoint and evil personas and failed relationships - where he was happy go lucky and optimistic. And if he had been finding himself getting more and more caught up in these trances around her, maybe his heart was ready for the taking again too.

He repositioned himself on the frame, only for a pain to shoot up his back and across his shoulders, reminding him why he was there in the first place and breaking him from his gaze.

"Caitlin?" Barry called out, fully entering her office area.

She turned to him at the sound of his voice, her lips immediately widening at his presence, causing Barry to smile back. "Hey."

"Hey," he greeted softly, walking over to her leisurely.

She held up her index finger, signaling him to wait for one second as she looked back into the microscope before writing an observation down on her notepad. She then looked back up at him, giving him her undivided attention. "Did you need something?"

His smile dampened ever so slightly. "Actually, yeah…" he let out reluctantly. "My shoulders have been bothering me a lot lately," he pointed out, rotating them for good measure which enticed a slight hiss from the speedster.

Caitlin frowned, ushering him to the medical bed in the center of the room. "When did the pain start?"

The speedster took a second to think. "Um, when we went against that wooden meta...the uh...," Barry recalled back on, his hand moving in circles as he tried to remember the meta's name, "What did Cisco name him?"

His personal physician pursed her lips to the side, thinking. "I think...I think he just called him the Wooden Man."

"That's...not very creative," Barry remarked with a chuckle.

Caitlin laughed too, shaking her head. "No, it's not," she agreed before her face turned solemn, her eyes alighting with recognition - "Barry, that was a _a few days_ ago," she stressed, "and you're just telling me this hurts _now?!_ "

Barry guiltily grinned. "I kept thinking it would just go away," he admitted with a sheepish shrug. "With my speedy healing and all…"

She clicked her tongue as she rounded the bed to face his back. She lifted his shirt up to his shoulder blades, prompting Barry to take the shirt off the rest of the way, knowing Caitlin's nonverbal cues like the back of his hand now that they've been doing this for years.

Her fingers poked and prodded at certain areas of his back. "You have some serious knots back here. I'm guessing that the fight was more strenuous than usual. So that, coupled with the normal stress of the Flash and the horrible way you're hunched over at the precinct all the time, your muscles stay knotted," she surmised, walking back so she was standing in front of him.

"So...what do I do?" Barry asked searchingly. "Head down to the local spa and get a massage?"

Caitlin bit down on her lower lip, contemplating what to do as she looked at her friend. "You could," she said, nodding, "Though I... somewhat know how to give a massage. Granted I'm not certified but…" she admitted, trailing off with a shrug.

Barry raised a brow in interest. "Have you been moonlighting as a masseuse this whole time, Dr. Snow?" he wondered aloud, his closed lips raised on one side as he watched her humorously.

She gave him a deadpanned look that caused him to chuckle.

"Very funny," she said dryly. "While I was taking care of you in your coma, I was also really stressed about Ronnie and my career that I actually taught myself some techniques to relax, since I always felt weird about complete strangers touching me like that. And it's not like I was going to ask Cisco or…" she paused, wrinkling her nose, "or Dr. Wells-er, Thawne- to give me a massage."

Barry laughed, not being able to picture the aforementioned men giving her a massage. "Well then, Dr. Snow, would you please help your patient?" he play pleaded, hands even together in prayer to further the act. "He is in pain."

"You just don't want to pay for an actual massage."

Barry shrugged, his smile wide and unashamed. "Maybe...but you offered...Or are you rusty?" he then teased her.

She let out a self-dignified huff. "I never get rusty," she proclaimed, before letting out an exaggerated sigh coupled with a fond eye roll. "Go on, lay down," she directed.

He flashed her a cheeky grin before laying down on the bed, his back facing up with his head down and facing her. "Is this good?"

She nodded silently, walking closer to him. She stood still for a moment, surveying his back, trying to gauge where she should start first. Eventually she picked an area and began applying pressure to it increasingly.

Barry was startled at the first contact, jumping ever so slightly. Caitlin's hands stilled along the knobs of his spine causing him to shiver further, but for an entirely different reason. "Cold," he quickly murmured into the bed.

She giggled as he felt her fingers begin their work again, digging into his back. "Sorry, but you do know you have a person with frost powers massaging you, right?" she lightly joked.

Barry let out a short laugh. "I'm aware-Ahhhhh," Barry let out, interrupting himself.

Caitlin stopped again, pulling herself away. "What? What now?" she frantically asked. He turned to look at her, her eyes were blown wide in panic. "Was that too hard?" she asked concerningly, obviously not wanting to hurt him.

He shook his head. "Quite the opposite," he admitted with a chuckle. "Please, continue. It feels good."

She let out a relieved breath before taking over her previous actions, her fingers pressing deep into his warm skin, kneading into his sculpted back.

Her hands were like magic against his skin; he could already feel the pain in his shoulders lessening, allowing him to sink into the medical bed, relaxing. Her touch was purposeful - she was clearly _just_ massaging his back - but it felt... _sensual_ at times, to him. Maybe it was because of his growing feelings for the doctor, coupled with the fact that this was the first time she was touching him that wasn't strictly friendly nor doctor related.

He had to take a deep breath, trying to suppress his body from reacting to her hands on him. However, it didn't stop the forthcoming moan from breathily escaping his lips after she pressed into a rather sensitive spot. "... _ohhhhh_!"

He felt her hands trip over the rhythm they had been moving, but she didn't stop this time. He figured he had just frightened her by the sudden sound, so he let out a meek "sorry" as he threw his friend an embarrassed smile over his shoulder.

She cleared her throat. "No problem," she said thickly, swallowing as her eyes stayed trained on his back.

Furrowing his brows, Barry couldn't help but notice that Caitlin was visibly flustered, blushing even. It hadn't been his intention, but her reaction was catalyzing one of his own as he wondered what she was thinking. Because if she was thinking what he _thought_ she was thinking... - his dick twitched, and, yeah, now he definitely had a boner. Great.

"Barry," Caitlin's voice spoke up, snapping him from his thoughts. "I'm going to need you to turn on your side just for one moment. I'd be easier to reach this patch of your shoulder."

His eyes shot open wide as he intook a quick breath that then led into a momentary coughing fit.

"Barry?" Caitlin let worriedly, patting him on the back to help with his cough.

He cleared his throat once the coughing spell dissipated. "Do - do I really have to?" he stuttered out.

"If you want your shoulders to feel better, then yes," she teasingly remarked. The speedster could feel her hand on his right shoulder, tugging at it gently to encourage him to move that way, but Barry laid stagnant.

He swallowed. "I - I don't think we need to go _that_ in depth, ya know?"

"Don't be silly," she insisted. "Dr. Caitlin Snow is always thorough."

A nervous chuckled spilled from his lips. The thought " _how thorough?"_ then flashed through his mind, concocting pictures of his personal physician that, well - the hope for his erection to soften before he turned over definitely wasn't going to happen now.

"It's really not necessary. I'm sure you can get the area just fine from the angle you're at now."

She pulled at his shoulder a little more roughly while Barry leveraged his weight to prevent from turning. " _Barry_ ," she stressed, a hint of her growing frustration becoming evident. "What is up with you?"

"Too much," Barry mumbled, thinking about the problem between his legs while also trying to keep himself anchored to the bed as Caitlin continued her efforts to make him turn over.

Her persistence then abruptly stopped, and Barry let out a sigh of relief when he thought he had won. "Barry, is that Mirror Master?" she asked, pointing to a mirror in the corner of the room.

Barry immediately looked up and squinted at the reflected object. However, it was that simple distraction that was enough to catch him off guard and allow Caitlin to turn him over.

"Ha!" she let out gleefully in victory.

Under normal circumstances, he would have basked in the cuteness of her rare childishness, but instead his heart was nearly beating out of his ribcage in fear as he saw her eyes agonizingly trail down his body.

Nothing happened for a moment, and everything was still, but soon her triumphant smile waned as she finally noticed his tented sweatpants.

With wide eyes, she stared at it for a few (agonizing) seconds before tearing her gaze away, sputtering and blushing. "I - I think we're good for today," she said, her voice exasperated as she backed away. "And I - I just remembered that I told Harry I'd help him with something, so…" she trailed off, motioning to the door before speed walking herself out of the lab.

Too mortified to try and explain himself at the moment, he watched her leave. And only when he was sure that she was out of earshot, did he turn back over on his stomach, frustratingly groaning as he proceeded to bang his head against the mattress numerous times.

Things just got awkward.


	2. chapter two

Barry avoided STAR labs for the rest of that day. Luckily, no metas had caused havoc, so he could sit in his bedroom at Joe's, moping in his embarrassment for the rest of the night. The following day, however, he and Joe were sent out to a crime scene that, upon further inspection, seemed meta related.

"So the guy was beaten to death? How does that sound like a meta?" Cisco asked after he and Joe had told the team about the case.

"Because the guy was beaten to a bloody pulp within a second," Joe revealed. "The victim's co-worker left work right after him and saw this guy throw one punch. The murderer, and our alleged meta, then ran away. But like I said, the victim was _beaten_ ; his skull was caved in."

Barry saw Caitlin wince, but she didn't say anything. She actually hadn't said anything since they entered the cortex. She hadn't even looked at him once.

"So if this is a meta, it would be one with excessive strength, given that he caused maximum damage in a short time frame," Harry commented out loud.

The speedster nodded as he moved his gaze from his personal physician to Harry. "That's what we are thinking, but we don't know for sure yet. We did manage to secure some of the murderer's DNA," Barry said, holding up a bag in his hand that held the DNA. "He didn't pop up on any of our databases as a former criminal, but we at least wanted to make sure he was a meta before proceeding…" Barry said, trailing off as he looked back over to Caitlin, extending the bag towards her since this was her expertise.

She looked blindly unaware, instead her eyes were staring blankly into the distance until Cisco nudged her. "Oh!" she let out in surprise, "Yes, I can do that," she said, reaching to retrieve the bag, noticeably - to Barry anyway - avoiding any physical contact during the exchange.

Barry sighed as she stalked off to her lab without even a backwards glance. He really made of mess of things, didn't he?

"Dude, _what_ is going on?"

The forensic scientist broke his gaze from where Caitlin had last been to swivel his attention to his other friend, who was looking at him confusingly. It was then that Barry noticed that Harry and Joe were both gone - _when did that happen?_

"What do you mean?" Barry instead asked. "We're trying to catch a meta - just like any other day," he continued with a slight chuckle. "You should probably check out some of the surveillance from the surrounding streets."

"Already on it," Cisco stated dismissively, still looking at him peculiarly. "But not what I was talking about. What's going on with you and Caitlin? The vibe was mad tense in here - I sense these things!"

Barry could already feel his ears burning just thinking about what happened the day before.

"Did you guys get into a fight or something?" Cisco pressed, this forehead wrinkling in concern.

Frowning, Barry bobbled his head around. "Or something…" he mumbled.

"Well then stop - or better yet, fix it," the long-haired man stated as he began to fiddle around with his computer, bringing up multiple files of footage from the security cameras near the crime scene. "Because we can't successfully take down metas if you two are acting weird. Plus, our _Stranger Things_ marathon is tomorrow and we're not rescheduling!"

Letting out a huff of amused laughter, Barry simply nodded, knowing what Cisco said was true. He needed to talk to Caitlin. And soon.

"I think I found our guy," Cisco then proclaimed.

But first they had to catch this meta.

…

Barry woke up with a start, his heart racing. His sight was blurry too, but luckily his vision was getting clearer each time he blinked. Soon enough he was able to make out the distinct features of Caitlin's medical lab and he immediately relaxed under the knowledge of being in a familiar and safe environment.

"Cait," he rasped out, knowing she couldn't be far - she never was.

As if she possessed super speed herself, she was at his side in an instant, her brows knitted as she looked down at him with concern. "Barry," she let out softly, and by her tone he knew she was relieved. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

He scrunched down his face, his eyes still not completely clear from the fog he just woke up from. "Confused," he confessed, his mind whirling for an explanation. He couldn't even remember the last thing that happened, just that they had left to go seek out the meta. "What happened?"

"You got punched by the metahuman," she explained, her eyes downcast. "Your skull had a hairline fracture but you're completely healed now," she explained, gesturing to an x-ray of his skull looking perfectly intact and injury free.

"Did we at least catch the guy?"

Caitlin shook her head. "No," she told him regrettably. "Once you got hit, I made Cisco transport you back here as soon as possible," she shared, her hands unsteady by her sides. "I couldn't risk it."

"How long was I out? Please don't tell me another 9 months," he lightly joked.

The ends of her lips lifted ever so briefly. "No," she assured him, "I've been waiting for you to wake up for about 5 hours now though…"

He could tell she had been scared, and not just because he could see the faint outline of tear tracks dried on her cheeks. "I'm fine, Caitlin," he tried to reassure her, sitting up in the bed to further prove his point.

She nodded her head, her bottom lip getting tugged down by her teeth. "I know. It just...it looked a lot worse than it actually was," she admitted, taking a deep breath to compose herself. "You looked so _bad_ \- so _bloody_ -"

Barry reached over to touch her arm, trying to comfort her. This hadn't been the first time he'd seen her shaken up over one of his injuries, but each time he wished it would be the last. "That's why Cisco padded the cowl. Not to mention, I have a pretty hard head," he jested, trying to lighten the situation and get her to feel better.

She merely nodded, her eyes trained on where his hand was resting against her forearm, deep in thought. "I'm sorry," she eventually said.

"Sorry? Sorry for what? That the meta got away? Caitlin, it's fine. You made the right call."

She finally looked back up at him, their eyes meeting; the intensity behind it sent a chill down his spine. "No, yeah, I know," she answered. She bit down on her lip again, suddenly apprehensive. "I meant, I'm sorry - about yesterday, and earlier today," she then clarified.

His heart jumped at the mention of yesterday, but Barry was quick to ignore it and began shaking his head. "No, no, no, you don't have anything to be sorry for," he assured her, swiveling around on the bed so that his legs dangled off the side and he was facing her fully. " _I'm_ the one who is sorry."

"Barry, you couldn't help it. It's a natural, biological reaction. So unless you're hiding another special ability from me, I don't think you can control _that_ ," she amusingly spoke.

Barry let out a puff of laughter, feeling himself blushing but nevertheless smiling. "No. No, I cannot."

They shared a look before they both fell into giggles. "We were acting like teenagers, huh?"

Barry nodded, his lips still spread wide. "We were. But hey, at least I don't look like teenage me anymore. That guy was beyond awkward."

Her brown eyes lit up. "Ooh, now I want to know what you looked like…" Caitlin teased. "Makes me want to head over to Joe's house and ask him for some old photos."

"No, no, no," Barry immediately protested, wagging his finger at her. "You'd be blinded by my bad bowl-haircut, and I kinda looked like a giraffe since apparently my neck wanted to grow before the rest of my body caught up."

Caitlin giggled into her hand, obviously trying not to laugh at his past self's appearance, but Barry found that he didn't mind. In fact, he kind of liked the idea of taking her to Joe's and just spending the evening with her going through old photo albums and recalling on the old memories they surfaced. Sure he looked awkward as hell during that time - who didn't? - but if it made her laugh like it was right now, it would be worth it.

"I was so skinny too," he continued, before looking down at himself. "I'm still skinny. Maybe that's why I get thrown around like a rag doll so much. Maybe when we catch this meta, you could isolate the changes in his DNA and mix up some muscle buffing therapy for me. My slim frame is a clear, physical disadvantage."

She frowned. "I like that you're on the skinnier side."

Barry merely raised a single brow, clearly amused.

"I-I mean," she stuttered, backpedaling, "Not that it matters what _I_ think - If you really want me to engineer something, I will. How buff were you -"

"Wait, wait," Barry said, holding up his hand to halt her nervous babble, "I think we should go back to the part where you said you liked my physique," he boasted, wiggling his eyebrows.

Her mouth was opening and closing much like a fish. "I-I didn't say that. I-"

"You totally love my body," he interrupted, tongue in cheek, watching her as her face progressively turned beet red. "Admit it, Dr. Snow," he playfully commanded, poking her on the side which elicited a giggle to spurt from his personal physician.

"I was just trying to say that being on the skinnier side is actually an advantage for your abilities. If you were too big and buff, your speed might decrease and your agility might suffer...Barry, stop!" she laughingly insisted as Barry started tickling her sides.

"Just say it, Caitlin," he said, his fingers wiggling around her waist, his hands too fast for her to stop.

"No," she insisted with a sly grin, propelling Barry to tickle her harder.

She squirmed into his hold, laughing against his t-shirt clad chest, which only made his heart feel whole with an indescribable emotion that he yearned to keep. He'd give anything to keep her this close, to get to hold her without preamble.

"Barry…" she managed to plead through her giddiness. "Please…"

He dramatically sighed before relenting. "Fine, fine," he said as he stopped his tickling madness.

She leaned back from his chest with residual giggles still spilling from her lips. However, she remained close, leaning against his legs for support as she tried to catch her breath.

Barry took a moment to study her. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful and she shone so brightly against the dull walls of her lab. Tears from her laughter were gliding down her face, repaving over the fear-induced stains from earlier. He smiled serenely at her as he lifted his hands to cup her face, letting the pads of his thumbs gently wipe her tears away.

She instantly quietened under his touch, watching him under her eyelashes with a soft, curious look.

The space between them fizzled, like he could feel all the particles in the air between them buzzing. The hands that had been cold against his back yesterday, now felt like they were burning through his suit's pants. The atmosphere was so thick and so heavy that he couldn't possibly break from this moment even if he wanted to.

Caitlin's eyes were growing darker as her pupils dilated wider and wider, and he was falling into that abyss, finding himself leaning a fraction closer and closer. His eyes flickered to her rose-colored lips, being further enticed by the way they gleamed in the room's lighting. And when he gazed back up to her eyes, his breath hitched when he saw that she had been looking at his lips too.

Her eyes fluttered closed as he drew nearer. He closed his own as their noses brushed. And before he knew it, his lips delicately touched against Caitlin's.

He held her face in his hands gently, kissing her sweetly. The kiss stayed soft and light for the first few moments as their lips took the time to map out and explore, taking in all of the textures and sensations that accompanied it. Barry's senses were consumed by all that was Caitlin - from the smell of her Vera Wang perfume and coconut-vanilla shampoo to the feel and taste of her lips against his. He could only begin to compare it to what he imagined floating on a cloud would be like - so peaceful and docile and liberating.

But then Caitlin's hands slid themselves just a little bit higher up his thigh, grasping at them ever so lightly. It made Barry let out a whimper into her mouth and brought out a carnal instinct within him that turned the kiss a little more desperate and rough, with tongues intermingling and teeth clashing. He trailed one of his hands down from her face, letting it skim over her curves, only to stop at her hip where he then tugged her closer to him, needing to feel more of her against him.

Caitlin broke the kiss, panting into his shoulder. "Barry...we-we can't," she breathed out. "We're at STAR Labs…"

But before Caitlin could utter a single word further, Barry had flashed them out, depositing them at a second location a mere second later.

Disoriented, Caitlin took in her surroundings for a moment, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Did you - did you run us to my apartment?"

Barry suddenly felt shy, bowing his head ever so slightly. "Well...you said we couldn't at _STAR Labs_ …so..." he shared his reasoning with a sheepish smirk.

She only stared off to the side blankly, biting down on her lower lip; it worried Barry, knowing that the certain idiosyncrasy meant she was definitely bothered by something. "Is this alright? Cait?"

At the sound of her name leaving his lips, whatever had been bothering her seemed to have melted away as she got up on her tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck to place a searing kiss against his mouth that nearly made him forget his own name. "Yes," she whispered huskily against his lips, pulling him by the shirt as she took the necessarily steps to her front door.

His lips lifted into an elated grin as he molded himself against her back, kissing and nipping at all the parts of her neck he could reach. He could only chuckle against her skin when he heard her keys jingling messily against the lock, knowing his actions were making it harder for her to complete the simple task.

Once they were inside, Caitlin turned around and pushed him up against the door, consequently shutting it. The action was bold and rough for someone he usually considered cautious and soft, but Barry couldn't deny that it wasn't hot. The odd grooves digging into his back barely even registered in his mind - not when her whole body was pressed up against him as she slanted her mouth over his again.

Her hands trailed down his sides as she deepened their kiss, working their way under his STAR Labs t-shirt, bunching the fabric higher and higher up his chest. Instinctively, he broke their connection to pull the shirt off, throwing it carelessly away before immediately swooping down to recapture Caitlin's lips, turning her around in the process so now that _she_ was up against the door.

Barry detached his lips from hers and started a hungry trek downwards. He pressed open kisses along her jaw before descending down the column of her neck, taking pleasure in the way her hands were clawing at his back as she swallowed under his ministrations and craned her neck backwards to give him more access. When he finally reached the neckline of her work blouse, he kissed each patch of naked skin he unearthed as he unfastened each button, only to kiss his way back up her torso as he finished, making his way back to her plump lips like his earlier kisses had just been breadcrumbs he laid out so that he could find his way back.

Breaking away again, he helped ease her shirt off of her shoulders, his eyes ranking in the swell of her breasts popping out of her bra. His hands expanded along her sides and up her back, mesmerized by the feeling of her soft skin under his calloused fingers. He pressed his lips to her bare shoulder and ran them along her collarbone all the while his fingers unhooked the undergarment, feeling it fall between them and shivering as he felt her pert nipples graze against his chest.

Caitlin's hands took this time to feel up his own body, tantalizingly moving from his broad shoulders, to his pecs, and smoothly along the indents of his abs. It wasn't long, however, before they wandered to the lightning belt around his waist, unclasping it, and then unzipping the red polymer. Her fingers flitted through the opening, cupping his manhood over his boxer-briefs, causing the speedster to let out a soft gasp as he instinctively grinded up into her touch, his whole body was pulsing.

" _Cait_ ," he expelled breathily near her ear, his body leaning up against her in his want. If he wasn't fully aroused before, he was now. And if they didn't move from where they were soon, they'd be having sex against her apartment door - and as hot as that sounded, he didn't want their first time together to be like that.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and rampant, searching his and eventually nodding at him, understanding what he was asking without having to say a word, just like they've been known to do. So she guided his lips back to hers in an intoxicating kiss as she directed them to her bedroom, not even paying attention to the side table nor picture frames on the wall as they clumsily knocked into them on their way, only giggling against each other's lips as they continued to kiss and walk to their destination.

They fumbled onto her bed sideways, their legs tangling as they both kicked off their shoes, hearing them thunk against her bedroom floor. Caitlin's hands tugged at the top of his pants, trying to pull them down. He lifted his hips in an effort to help, but Caitlin still had to break free from their kiss and move off the bed to help him ease out of the skin-tight bottoms.

Of course he could have taken his and her bottoms off in a millisecond, but his mind was so foggy and muddled with hormones and desire that the thought hadn't even crossed his mind until his pants were already half-way down and Caitlin was on her knees in front of him. Even then, his mind couldn't seem to compute or send its proper signals to do anything but stare at his beautiful (topless) doctor unabatedly; all the while thinking that he could definitely get used to this.

When the task was completed, she stood up, flashing him a coy smile as she reached behind her back, unzipping her skirt and allowing gravity to let it drop, the fabric pooling at her feet. She then took the necessarily step forward to the bed, crawling between his legs, shamelessly grazing herself over the bulge visible through his boxer-briefs, eliciting a hiss to escape out of Barry's mouth, his ears pounding from the sound of his heart working overtime.

With a smirk, Barry rolled them over so he was on top, rolling his hips down against hers, causing them both to let out low groans of pleasure. He lazily spread kisses all over her chest, while his hands sensually roamed any patch of skin he could reach. As his lips descended to her breasts, he sucked at each nipple, letting his tongue whirl around the areolas attentively, letting his teeth lightly graze them, enticing muffled moans to escape from Caitlin that swelled the speedster up with pride.

Leaning back on his knees, he ran his hands up her calves and down her thighs, feeling her squirm as he inched closer to her core. He brushed his thumb over the slit of her panties, feeling her wetness already seeping through the fabric - the hardness of his dick was never so apparent than it was right then.

He reached down to grab the band of her panties, beginning to slide them off. Caitlin lifted her legs up and together in an effort to help. Afterwards, he went to kick off his own underwear. And then there she was, and there he was - both completely bare and vulnerable. Barry looked back down at Caitlin expectantly, giving her this moment to back out if she wanted.

She licked her lips as she looked up at him. "The drawer on the left," she spoke up, gesturing to the piece of furniture with a tilt of her head.

The speedster leaned over to open the drawer, easily finding the condom his doctor had obviously been directing him to. He fitted it on before settling himself in between her legs once again, positioning his penis against Caitlin's pink flesh. He then pushed himself into her, slowly but fully, his dick welcoming the warmness of her core. The speedster stayed stationary for a few moments, letting them both grow accustomed to the the feeling of his length in her, before he started pulling himself in and out of her at a gentle speed.

Barry's heart pounded as he gazed down at her, appreciating the red flush blossoming across her body and the way her breasts jiggled as he thrusted into her. Caitlin's hair was fanned across her pillow and her luscious, bruised lips were parted as soft, erotic hums spilled from them as they moved. She was just utterly breathtaking and so beautiful - inside and out.

He leant down, laying a languid kiss against her lips."You're beautiful, Cait," he murmured against her, his thoughts catapulting out of his mind and through his mouth. He leaned back just enough to catch her eyes fluttering open, her lashes ticking his own.

"Thank you," she said quietly - bashfully.

Her cheeks were burning with a blush as red as his suit, and Barry couldn't help but find the action endearing, making his heart flutter further. In that moment, he just wished he could tell her everything - tell her how much this meant to him to be with her this intimately and just how he was falling for her. But he didn't want to spook her with intense feelings. Not yet. So instead, he was just going to have to show her as he made love to her.

Barry continued to push himself in and out of her, his lips hovering over her collarbone, kissing and licking and sucking his way along her chest. He nuzzled his face in the junction of her neck, pressing soft kisses up before teething at her earlobe, causing her to squirm and giggle through her soft pants.

Seemingly impatiently, Caitlin grabbed the back of his neck, guiding his mouth back to her lips, her tongue sweeping into his mouth, seeking out his own. He vaguely felt her lift her legs, wrapping them around his waist, spurring Barry to quicken his pace - something he hadn't even noticed he did until his ears picked up on Caitlin's headboard hitting against the wall with every thrust.

" _Ooh, Barry_ ," Caitlin whimpered out as they broke their kiss, her hips starting to lift to meet his thrusts, causing him to plow deeper into her.

" _Fuck_ ," he expelled huskily, starting to feel the coiling in his stomach begin. " _Ah, Cait_."

He reached down between them with his right hand, flicking and teasing at Caitlin's clit with his thumb as he picked up the speed of his thrusts just a notch higher. Caitlin squirmed pleasantly against him, letting out low, embedded groans as she kissed along his throat, her hands needy against his back.

Knowing he was close, and that she wasn't far behind, Barry vigilantly began vibrating the necessary parts of his body, urging her orgasm closer. Caitlin's eyes rolled back as her mouth popped open in euphoria, her nails digging into his back as she let out a mighty moan. Her walls were contracting against his cock, which then pushed him over the edge as he ejaculated.

He rode out both of their orgasms, his hips progressively moving slower and slower until he stopped completely, panting. He looked down at Caitlin, seeing her exhausted and spent, eyes half open, but seemingly glowing because of the thin layer of perspiration they had worked up. He smirked, feeling satisfied as he pulled himself out and fell to the opposite side of the bed, catching his breath for a moment.

When his breathing was back to normal, he then carefully took off the condom and got up to throw it into the trash bin Caitlin had in her adjourning bathroom. While in the bathroom, he cleaned himself up a little further, not wanting to be sticky in case Caitlin maybe wanted to cuddle - because Barry definitely did, if the dopey smile on his face at just the thought of it meant anything.

After exiting her bathroom, however, Barry was quick to discover that Caitlin had fallen asleep. He chuckled, shaking his head fondly at his doctor, not even disappointed since he knew she had been through a lot in the past couple hours - not to mention it was well into the early morning of the next day and he was feeling tired too.

With that, he lifted her sheets up and over her body, tucking her in. "Goodnight, Cait," he whispered, kissing her tenderly on the forehead, before picking up his things and leaving the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! ;) Thanks for reading!


	3. chapter three

Caitlin woke up to the sun shining through her blinds, hitting her face. She softly groaned, turning over so the light couldn't bother her anymore, when her brain suddenly registered that she was very, _very_ naked. And then she remembered why she was naked - _her nails digging into his back, the headboard banging, and the immeasurable feeling of him thrusting into her as he vibrated._ Instinctively, she shut her eyes tighter and pulled her sheets closer to her.

She had made a very stupid decision last night. She had let her hyperactive hormones, adrenaline, and fear boil her underlying feelings for Barry over the edge. Because yes, despite all of her degrees and her high IQ, she had foolishly fallen for the speedster, and a long time ago at that. But she kept mum because she knew it was meant to be unrequited. However, last night she had been weak. Those pretty green eyes of his watched her wantonly and his lips caressing her own and spilling her name, causing the steel walls surrounding her heart to become malleable, allowing her to just have this one moment - one night - with him.

She let out another soft groan. If she thought the last couple of days had been awkward, Caitlin didn't even want to know how they were going to act around each other now that they've slept together. Because now they've seen each other completely naked and touched parts friends just _didn't_ touch _..._

It then dawned on Caitlin - _where was Barry?_ Fear spiked right to her chest. _Was he still sleeping? Was he patiently waiting for her to open her eyes?_ She was almost too afraid to find out because she really didn't want to have this discussion with Barry. But Caitlin was a scientist. She was a realist. And she was practical and factual. She knew this had to be done. So she opened her eyes, only for her heart to clench painfully when she saw the space next to her was empty.

She sat up, pulling her bed sheet around her body protectively as she looked around her room, finding no traces of Barry - the bathroom door was wide open and dark, and his clothes that had been flung to the floor last night in their passion were no longer there. She reached out her hand to touch the other side of the mattress, only to find no warmth left from his presence, meaning he probably left a while ago. Her heart hurtfully panged again.

A coldness stirred within her. She could feel an intensity behind her eyes, knowing that they wanted to morph to white. Caitlin took deep breaths to help steel herself against the cold and against the irrational heartache. She knew nothing was going to come of their night together. Even as he was peppering kisses all over her body and telling her she was beautiful, Caitlin knew it was just temporary and that everything was fleeting. Barry was only acting so loving because that was all Barry knew, because he was a good, caring guy. But he obviously didn't have any _feelings_ for her - not like that. Why would he?

_But did he really have to leave?_

She shook her head. Maybe Barry leaving was a good thing. Last night was a mistake; he probably realized that too. He probably had been operating off an insane amount of adrenaline from his accident the night before, so when things escalated, he just went with it, lost in the haze of sexual tension and lust. And then he left because he probably figured they needed some time to themselves, letting it all process in their own minds before trying to talk about it together.

Caitlin would even be content if they never brought it up at all and if they could just move passed it and seemingly forget about it. Because not only were they friends, but they worked with each other too, using both their brains and powers to take down dangerous criminals to keep their city safe. Even if there were feelings on his side, there was no room for a relationship there without compromising the team and Central City. It was just too messy. Not to mention, relationships weren't exactly either of their fortes. Any serious relationship was predestined to fail, being the people who they were - with her lover's mortality rate and the fact that he couldn't even stay married to the woman that bared his name in the future.

Just then a crash was heard outside of her room. Fear ran through her as she jumped up from her bed and threw on something quick to cover her body. She grabbed the lamp on her bedside table before pressing her ear against her door, listening for anymore noises, but not hearing anything significant.

Swallowing down her apprehension, she cracked open her door, peeking outside of her room to see if she could spot something or someone from her vantage point but she saw nothing. Determined to know the source of the noise, she cautiously stepped out, her lamp gripped tightly in her hands as she tiptoed down the hallway, staying close to the wall and cursing Barry in her mind for possibly leaving the door unlocked when he left.

As she neared the main part of her apartment, she glanced at her front door - _pushing Barry up against the door, bodies pressed so close_. She tore her eyes away, feeling herself blushing, but not before noticing that the door had been locked. Her grip on her lamp relaxed, and she started to wonder if maybe she had instead just heard something from the apartment upstairs.

Her gaze wandered to her living room where she then saw her throw blanket splayed out on the couch messily and her throw cushions stacked on top of one another at the far end. She furrowed her brows, knowing it wasn't like that when they had stumbled in last night, but the train of thought was abruptly halted as another, softer noise sounded in her kitchen.

She immediately tensed up again, her knuckles white as they held the lamp. Discreetly she made her way to the entryway of her kitchen, nearly having a heart attack as she saw a figure standing by her stove. However, the panic was short lived when she recognized the figure. It was only Barry, and in only his boxer-briefs – _boxer-briefs that she remembered feeling him up through, his shaft pulsing against her hand, the sound he made as she touched him..._ \- she shook her head once again, pushing those memories back.

Caitlin's fear drained at the sight of her friend, and with it she finally realized she could smell the preparation of food being cooked and coffee brewing. Now she was confused for a whole different reason. "Barry?" she let out warily.

Barry turned around, his face lighting up with a wide grin as he saw her. "Good morning, Cait!"

Ignoring the thumping of her heart at the use of her nickname and how adorable he looked with his messy hair and sleepy eyes, she peered at the speedster, confused as to why he was still here, and in her kitchen no less. "What are you doing?"

He held up a spatula that was in his hand. "Making pancakes, of course," he simply said. His eyes then zeroed in on the object still in her hands. "What are _you_ doing?"

She suddenly felt sheepish and stupid. "I thought you were a burglar," she tried to explain, but it only caused Barry to laugh. "What was that loud sound I heard anyway?" she then asked as she put the lamp down on a free surface nearby, suddenly remembering why she came out there to begin with.

It was Barry's turn to act sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I – I accidentally dropped your flour jar," he admitted, his tone nothing but remorseful. "But I promise, I will buy you a new one," he was quick to add. "Until then," he trailed off only to reach behind him to pick up a plate stacked with pancakes, "enjoy my very amazing pancakes!"

Caitlin slowly made her way to her small kitchen table and tentatively took a seat, all the while her mind was running through thoughts as fast as the Flash ran through the streets. Most thoughts were along the lines of _Was he trying to let her down easy?_ or _Was she still dreaming?_

Barry placed a plate in front of her with two pancakes stacked upon it. She noticed they were already buttered and that they were topped with just enough syrup to cover the food but not too much to make them soggy; it was exactly how she liked her pancakes, but she pushed that thought aside too as she cut into her breakfast but didn't make any attempt to eat it.

"I promise these are awesome," Barry said around a forkful. "Everyone compliments them," he boasted toothily.

Caitlin took a bite, and it was indeed good, but the whys and hows and all of what they were doing were flooding her mind too much to enjoy it.

She saw Barry frown as he looked at her. "Are the pancakes not good? Too much syrup? I have more and you can-"

"They're perfect," Caitlin butted in gratingly, wincing at the harshness in her voice. "The syrup and pancakes are all perfect," she further detailed, softer this time, before leaning back in her chair and letting her fork cling against the plate with a sigh. "What are you _doing_ , Barry?"

His eyes widened for a moment with recognition, nodding as he understood what she was really asking. Her let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck again. "Listen...you're one of my best friends, Caitlin," he started slowly, his eyes darting from her to the table and back to her again. "I don't want this to feel like a one-night stand...I mean, I'm not that kind of guy and I really care about you…"

' _As a friend,'_ she finished for him in her head. He obviously thought it was a mistake, just like she thought, but he was being mature about it and was trying to let her down easy. She pushed all the emotions that were bubbling to the surface down deep, burying them before they could do further harm. She knew this was going to happen, so there was no reason to get upset.

She nodded her head, licking her lips nervously, and consciously trying to stop herself from biting down on her lower lip, knowing that Barry knew that telltale better than anything else. "I get it, Barry, I do," she said, wringing her hands. "I mean, I succumbed to the sexual urges I had too - we all have them and sometimes they run wild. I mean, I don't know about you, but I haven't had sex in... _awhile_ ," she admitted shyly.

Barry's brows furrowed as he stared at her, mouth slightly ajar. "Well, well I mean," he stuttered, letting out a slight cough. "For me, it has been since a little before Iris left," he confessed himself, but he still seemed puzzled. "But Cait-"

"Right," she said, interrupting whatever Barry was going to say. "So, we've both been sexually repressed for _awhile_. Not to mention, we're both genetically attractive people, who just so happened to have gone through a sexualized mishap the other day that further enhanced our sexual frustrations."

The speedster cocked his head to the side, the line between his eyebrows prominent as his confusion deepened. "So...what you're saying is that...we only slept together because we were both just... _horny_?" he said unsurely.

Caitlin could feel a faint blush spread across her cheeks. _His mouth on her breasts, his tongue lapping at her skin, his teeth biting her ear._ She cleared her throat, trying to rid the images from last night from resurfacing yet again. "I guess that is one way to put it, yes," she said quietly. "Unless…" she trailed off, looking at Barry expectantly, "there are... _feelings_ on your end...?"

Barry's eyes immediately widened. "Wh-ah-huh," he let out unintelligently. "N-No? I mean, do you?"

" _No_ ," Caitlin assured him immediately, letting out an anxious laugh. But inside she felt like an earthquake had stuck her. She was shaking and whatever was left of her heart was cracking.

"Great," she heard him mutter, flashing her a grin that didn't quite meet his eyes like they had earlier when he had greeted her. He abruptly got up from the table, her eyes treacherously eyeing up his chest as he did. "I have to get going, but I guess I will see you in a few hours?"

"A few hours?"

He nodded his head, walking over to the door to pick up his t-shirt from last night and put it on. She blushed again as another memory popped up into her mind, and damn, she was never going to be able to look at her front door the same. "Cisco's _Stranger Things_ marathon?" he clarified.

Dread filled Caitlin's stomach. She had completely forgotten about those plans, and she wasn't sure she could get through another evening with Barry at that moment, even if Cisco was going to be there too. It was too much for her heart to take. Then again, if she didn't show up, Cisco would end up bombarding her apartment and she wouldn't be able to mope in peace anyway. Plus, she couldn't show Barry that she was bothered by their predicament, especially since he certainly didn't have an issue going to Cisco's.

"Yeah, I guess I will see you then," Caitlin told him with a curt nod.

He nodded back. "Good."

Barry watched her for a second or two, lips pressed together in a straight line. He looked like he really wanted to say something further, but when he opened his mouth, all he said was a soft goodbye before opening up her door and leaving.

With a heavy sigh, Caitlin shut the door behind him, her forehead resting against it.

A knock then sounded, the reverberation jostling her. Perplexed, she opened it, only to see Barry looking at her like a lost puppy. _Why was he here? Did something change?_

"I - I forgot my boots...and pants," he admitted embarrassingly, and it was only then that Caitlin realized that he was barefoot and still only clad in his underwear. She wanted to slap herself upside the head for ever thinking he came back for anything else.

"Right, right, sure," she said stepping aside to let him back in to get his stuff.

_She was so, so stupid._

…

Although Caitlin had been reluctant to go to Cisco's to binge-watch the second season of _Stranger Things_ , Caitlin was actually glad that she had gone. The show was able to get her mind off of things and Cisco's added commentary over the show was an added bonus. The laughter and suspense of it all almost made her forget about the man sitting next to her on the couch. _Almost_. But his figure was constantly in the corner of her eye, a presence she couldn't ignore, and from time to time she would catch herself glancing at him, and sometimes she would even feel his eyes on her too.

Things weren't overly awkward. There was a slight tension, but they seemed to want to ignore it. When she first arrived, he had given her a genuine smile, though it still wasn't as bright as the ones she was used to receiving. They had even chatted some, talking about the show mainly - it was a good buffer.

"Okay, _that_ might have been my favorite episode yet," Cisco exclaimed. He was sitting in front of the loveseat couch, his legs stretched out under the coffee table as he watched the ending credits roll from the pendulant episode of the season.

"You say that after every episode though," she teased, reaching in between her and Barry for the popcorn bowl to throw a kernel at his head.

"Hey!" he let out, scandalized at the assault, before taking the offended kernel and eating it. Caitlin and Barry shared a look before rolling their eyes at their friend. "But in my defense," he started again after eating the popcorn, "each episode is just getting more and more bomb. But also, I did _no_ t say that after episode 7 - that was by far the worse of the whole series."

Caitlin rolled her eyes again. She had actually liked episode 7. She understood why Cisco hadn't liked it, and while she didn't think it was the greatest episode ever, she surely didn't think it was the worse.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Barry defended, which internally made Caitlin smile.

She and Cisco had a discourse about the episode once it had ended, so Barry knew her thoughts on it, though the speedster refrained from picking a side at the time, claiming he was neutral.

"Ohhhh no, no, no! Not again," Cisco complained, wagging his finger. "You guys always end up choosing each other's sides and ganging up on poor Cisco. Well not today!" he hollered, pumping out his chest.

Barry raised his hands, seemingly surrendering himself to Cisco, but not before sending her a discreet smile that made her heart flutter. "Not taking sides - I just think the hate is unjustified."

Cisco snorted. "Not taking sides, my ass," she heard the engineer mumble under his breath as he went to play the next episode.

Caitlin giggled into her hand, but refrained from commenting further on the topic, or else they would be there all night debating over it. So she merely zipped her lip and paid attention to the new episode starting, blindly reaching out next to her for more popcorn. However, popcorn it not what she found. Instead she was met with something else _entirely_.

Her head snapped to where her hand was, and, unfortunately, it seemed that her hand was lying directly on Barry's crotch.

She looked up to find him staring at her with comically wide eyes, though the situation was anything but comical for Caitlin right now. She quickly removed her hand as if she had touched a hot stove, whispering an apology as she tried to shrink herself into the couch, hoping the stuffed fabric would engulf her and end her misery.

Barry cleared his throat before getting up from his seat, making his way down the hall where Caitlin knew Cisco's bathroom was.

Their long-haired friend was too engrossed in the show to have seen Caitlin's accidental touch, for that she was grateful, since she was embarrassed enough, and she didn't need her other best friend making it worse with his teasings, because he so would. But that didn't change the fact that she did in fact touch Barry somewhat provocatively, making Barry scurry away uncomfortably.

She rubbed at her forehead, a headache starting to form. Just when the awkwardness was starting to dissolve between her and Barry, she had to go and make it awkward again. Caitlin felt compelled to explain herself and apologize once more. So, after glancing one more time to make sure Cisco was still unaware, she went to follow Barry.

As she reached the bathroom door, Caitlin could see the light on from underneath the crack, indicating that Barry was indeed in there. She let out a minor sigh in relief. She was afraid that he would have flashed himself away.

"Barry?" she called out softly, trying not to be too loud and draw Cisco's attention. She knocked on the door. "Barry?"

"What?" she heard his gentle voice say on the other side of the door. "Do you need the bathroom?

"No," she answered, her nerves bundled. "I-I just wanted to apologize, again. I was trying to reach for the popcorn, but I guess you moved it without me knowing…"

"Of course," she thought she heard him say before letting out a self-depreciating chuckle. "It's _fine_...Accidents... _happen_."

Caitlin frowned, feeling that Barry was acting weird. "Barry? Are you sure you're okay?"

" _I'm fine_ …" he said, though his voice sounded a bit breathy.

She frowned, suddenly concerned about him for a completely different reason. "Barry, are you sure? You don't sound fine..."

She tried for the door and lo and behold it was unlocked. She opened it, but the progress was immediately halted by Barry pressing against it on the other side, preventing her from entering. "No, don't come in! I told you I'm fine."

Caitlin let out a frustrated huff. "Barry, whenever you say you're fine, it usually means you're not. Let me just see that you are alright. I'm not only your friend, but I'm your doctor too. You're really worrying me right now."

"Just…" he started but then he let his sentence drop to exhale a very audible breath, "just don't freak out, okay?"

Now she was _very_ intrigued, and it only made her thoughts go to injuries he could have sustained from the moment he left the couch until now. She swallowed down her growing trepidation. "I won't," she told him, though she couldn't really promise she wouldn't freak out if it was truly bad.

With a sigh, Barry opened the door wide. His ears were tinged red at the tips, indicating he was embarrassed, but embarrassed by... _oh_. And although it wasn't as obvious as the first time, since he was now wearing jeans instead of sweats, Caitlin could definitely distinguish that Barry did indeed have an erection.

"Considering how you acted the first time, I didn't want you to freak out again," he quietly admitted.

Caitlin nodded her head at the logic. "Then again, since the first time, we've had sex, so…"

A laugh sputtered from Barry's lips and the awkwardness that had been hovering over them like a cloud since that morning was lifted, making the lights seem brighter and the air a little bit easier to breathe.

"Touché," Barry responded, his smile crooked as he regarded her. "But like I said, I'm fine. I just need... _time_."

"Right..." she replied, awkwardly diverting her eyes, trying not to stare at the tightness in his jeans. Caitlin kind of hated that she liked the idea of having that effect on him. That whether he had romantic feelings for her or not that she could still make his body react; the knowledge itself stirred something inside of her.

"It happened just from that single touch though?" she couldn't help but ask, curious, for medical reasons, if Barry asked.

Barry dipped his head as a nervous, breathy chuckle sounded. "Heh, um, well you also...kinda... _grappled_ it…"

Her eyes widened. "I did?!"

He laughed more freely this time. "Yes, you did," he confirmed as a mischief glint formed in his green hues. "You know, if you wanted to cop a feel, Dr. Snow, all you had to do was ask," he teased her.

Her mouth dropped open. "Bartholomew Henry Allen," she said in amused shock. "To some that would warrant a slap, but I'm afraid another touch might make a _messy situation_ …" she playfully fired back, gesturing to the bulge still prominent under his jeans.

Tongue pressed against his cheek, Barry nodded at the jab, impressed. "Well like you said before: it's a normal, biological reaction," he defended with a smirk, his eyes boring into hers as he took a small step towards her. "And especially when I have a genetically attractive woman touching me - even if just by accident - it's simply out of my control..."

Caitlin's licked her lips, her heart pounding. She was very well aware that he was using her words against her, but she couldn't get over the sound of his voice - so deep and husky sounding - it was like he was trying to lure her to him.

Her breathing was becoming erratic by his close proximity, causing her chest to rise and fall more noticeably. Barry noticed the change, his eyes flicking from her face, to her chest, before landing on her lips, and Caitlin was sure that took all her breath away completely, as well as her resolve.

_Fuck it._

She leaned up, pressing her lips against his, her arms wrapping around his broad shoulders. Barry readily reciprocated, his hands spanning around her waist and back, pulling her flush against him. His erection's bulge rubbed up against her front causing her to nearly _mewl_ into his mouth.

Barry pushed her up against the door's frame, carefully nipping at her lower lip, his actions screaming a want that she too was feeling as her hands weaved themselves into his hair, tugging at the strands as the kiss progressed. She could feel his fingers moving just below the hem of her shirt, his touch spreading a warmth whenever they brushed against her bare skin, catalyzing her need to take off all of their clothes and have him in her and against her like they were last night.

It was then that reality crashed down around her, causing her to pull away. "Cisco," she panted out.

Barry immediately withdrew from her, eyeing her strangely. "Please don't tell me that you'd rather I be Cisco."

Caitlin scrunched up her nose, wrinkling it in disgust. " _No!_ No, no, no," she insisted with a firm shake of her head. "Cisco's in the other room - this is Cisco's place," she explained herself better.

A realization dawned over Barry's features. "Right," he muttered out, taking a step back to lean on the other side of the door frame.

The two merely stood opposite of each in the bathroom's doorway, avoiding each other's eyes as they let the situation sink in. Caitlin rolled back on her heels while Barry stood awkwardly with his hands over the front of his pants, trying to conceal his still obvious bulge. Both seemed not to know what to do next, especially when they were both still wired up from their little makeout session.

There was now a tension in the room, slowly filling up and becoming denser. It was like she was a spring and someone was pressing down on her, forcing her coils to compress further and further and further; the pressure to pop was building and building and building - until it finally did.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Caitlin blurted out, and she really didn't know where that had come from but the tension was started to steep into her shoulders and the feeling between her loins was only magnifying the longer they were in each other's presence.

Barry head snapped up. "Y-Yes."

So they both scurried over each other and into the other room, bidding Cisco rapid goodbyes as they grabbed their personal belongings and headed out the door and to the elevator nearby.

As the elevator doors closed behind them, Barry backed her up against the far side, sucking at the sensitive skin between her neck and collarbone hungrily. She let out a pleased sigh as she arched her back, consequently rubbing her hips up against his, causing his fingers to tighten around her waist as he moaned into her neck. She could feel her body growing impeccably hot as his lips continued their assault, her one hand deeply embedded in his hair while the other was clutching his shirt needily.

The elevator door dinged, signaling they had arrived at the ground floor. And maybe the bell sound caused some pavlovian response or it was the change in atmospheric pressure that cleared her head but she suddenly felt the impulse to push him away, so she did.

"Where are we going?" he let out breathily, smirk intact.

Caitlin shook her head, refusing to look at Barry and trying to ignore the puzzled look he gave her as she stepped aside him and out of the elevator. _What was she doing?_

He cleared his throat. "We could go to your place again. Or, if you really want to, my place, though it's technically Joe's, and I can't promise we'll be alone," he said with a nervous chuckle, watching her cautiously. It's like he sensed that something was different despite the fact that she was grinding up against him only a few seconds ago.

"What are we doing?" she asked quietly, though it was mainly said to herself. "We can't do this. I'm - I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Cait," he began, reaching out his hand to her, but she pushed it away with a shake of her head. She then strode out of the apartment building, letting the light fall breeze swish her hair around as she made her way to her car, the light from the side of Cisco's building luminant enough for her to see where she parked.

"Cait! Caitlin!" she then heard behind her. She picked up her pace, knowing it could only be Barry, but the effort was futile when she was up against the fastest man alive. He speeded right in front of her, his whoosh of speed intermingling with nature's own wind. "Caitlin, whoa, wait - can we talk about this?"

"We talked about it this morning, Barry. There isn't anything left to discuss," she replied curtly, knocking into his shoulder as she unlocked her car. She tried to open the door, but Barry was quick to push it back shut. "Barry!" she hollered, twirling around to glare at him.

"Yes, we talked this morning, but this morning was about _last night_ ," he argued. "But right now, I think we need to talk about what happened just a minute ago." The yellowish light coming from the building reached just far enough that she was able to see that his usually so warm and inviting eyes were now burning through her, his face pinched inwards - he was angry.

She sighed, letting her back fall against her car. "It - it was nothing. I shouldn't have and I'm sorry."

He let out a bitter laugh. "So what? Were you just horny again? Is that what that was?"

She bit down on her lower lip, crossing her arms around her chest. "Yes, okay," she said defeatingly, because what else was she going to say?. "Sorry about the blue balls or whatever - it won't happen again," she promised, turning to open her car door but it was stopped by Barry shutting it on her once again. She let out a frustrated groan.

"I don't care about getting blue balls," he said, his voice was tight with frustration. "I just," he started, his tone getting gentler, the fire behind his eyes dwindling, leaving just his general warmth as he stared at her. "I'm just really confused here, Caitlin..."

Caitlin wearily sighed, her shoulders slumping. "We can't do this, Barry. Not again. We already know this isn't going anywhere, and I don't want to jeopardize our friendship..."

He licked his lips. "I know, I know. And I don't want anything to come between our friendship either," he said, agreeing and nodding his head to her words, "but, Caitlin," he said, pausing to let out a short laugh, trying to find the right words to say. "I-I can't stop thinking about last night," Barry admitted.

Caitlin swallowed.

Barry took a step closer, and her heart felt like it was trying to project itself out of her body by the harsh thuds she felt against her chest. "I can't stop thinking about how you touched me," he shared, leaning down to hold both of her hands in his, so delicately that her fingertips were tingling, "and like our bodies...had-had like this _craving_ for each other, and _God_ ," he breathed, his eyes flickering up and down her body, soaking her in, "It was _so good_ , Cait."

Her mouth felt dry, the air in her lungs lacking. "I...I can't stop thinking about it either," she whispered into the darkness, as if the shadows would come and grasp her confession before they reached his ears. But they didn't, for directly afterwards, Barry kissed her.

She knew she _should_ pull away. But like Barry had said, it was like her body craved his. Just the feeling of him leaning up against her right now with his lips moving gingerly against her own. She felt high off the sensation and disoriented by the pleasure. She managed to escape earlier, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to now.

She kissed back, her arms going around his neck as she got lost in the way his lips slid over hers and how his tongue sneaked into her mouth. His hands wandered passed her hips, ghosting over her rear before they stopped at the back of her thighs. He then hoisted her up and against his waist, leaning her up against her car. The frame of the window was jutting into her back, but that uncomfortableness was minor compared to the satisfaction she was experiencing throughout the rest of her body.

She wrapped her legs around his frame, grinding herself against him to simultaneously appease and fuel the friction she needed and desired. She could feel herself pulsing with want.

Barry freely groaned, his hot breath expelling onto her face. " _Cait_ …" he let out desperately, his eyes hooded and dark. He wanted what she was wanting too.

She nodded to herself. "The car," she said, unlocking her legs from around his waist.

As she placed her feet firmly on the ground, she turned around, opening her car door and crawling into the backseat. When she realized a certain speedster hadn't followed her, she stuck her head out the door, finding him staring rather puzzledly at the spot she had just been. She cleared her throat, gaining his attention. "You want to join me?" she asked with a small quirk to her lips.

He eagerly nodded his head, hastily jumping to action. He stepped into the small vehicle, trying his hardest to maneuver his tall, lanky self into her car gracefully, but he still managed to hit his forehead as he entered. "Ow," he moaned, falling into the nearest seat, rubbing the sore spot.

Caitlin giggled, scooting closer to him to take a look at the spot he hit. "I think you'll survive," she deducted, swiping her thumb over the area gently.

His hand went to her waist, rubbing around her hip bone as he gazed at her. "Kiss it better?" he asked with a jutted out bottom lip.

She rolled her eyes, but a blissful smile stretched across her face as she leaned over to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Better?" she asked as she pulled away.

"It's getting there," he said, ducking his head out to jovially peck her on the lips, causing her to let out another giggle. He only grinned, obviously satisfied by the response, before kissing her again, this time more languidly.

Caitlin hummed out pleasantly as she reciprocated the kiss, her hands threading through his hair. Barry's large, warm hands traveled up under her sweater, roaming up and down her back, his fingers tracing the knobs of her spine with a ghost like touch, making her shiver and for butterflies to thrash in her stomach. _This was all too gentle - too sweet._

She pulled herself away, leaning back.

"What?" Barry asked her, his eyes half open, his lips already a bit bruised and his hair sticking in every direction.

Mentally, she berated herself. She was thinking too much into it. _Just enjoy it._

She quickly shook her head. "Nothing," she assured him before starting to unbutton his shirt, fumbling with the small pieces of plastic.

Sensing her impatience, Barry speedily helped her unfasten the rest of his buttons, giving Caitlin access to his well-defined chest. She cooed at how warm his bare skin was and how taunt his muscles felt under her finger tips. Caitlin looked down, noticing the obvious outline of his dick through his jeans. She ran her hand along the length, causing Barry to lift his hips into her touch. Caitlin merely smirked as she unzipped his jeans, sneaking her hand into the slit of his underwear, unearthing his dick from both confines.

Barry hissed at the cold air hitting his penis - the hiss turning into a moan as she started to stroke it up and down every so slowly. "Damn, Cait," he managed to murmur, leaning his head back against the headrest as she pumped him, getting him completely hard.

"Do you have a condom?" she asked, progressively slowing her hand on his shaft before stopping completely. She then moved to slid down her pants and panties, fighting off a chill from the Autumn cold that was permeating the car. She was keenly aware that Barry was watching her in fascination the whole time. "Well?" she prodded amusingly, turning to him just as the fabric of her clothes slipped off her ankles.

Barry's eyes were wide as he shook his head. "Uh, um, no..."

Sighing, Caitlin leaned forward between the two front seats, reaching for her purse. "You should always have one handy," she told the speedster as she fished one out of her handbag. She turned her torso around to show off the item only to witness Barry staring at her bare ass.

She rolled her eyes as she slunk back down next to him on the backseat, watching as his eyes went from her ass to her breasts and finally to her hands, his eyebrows knitting together as he saw the little packet she was holding. "Where did you get a condom?"

"If you hadn't been staring at my ass, you would've noticed I had one in my purse," she replied.

Barry blushed, shrinking himself back. 'Sorry," he let out meekly, embarrassed and remorseful.

She threw her right leg over his waist, straddling the speedster and sitting in his lap. "Relax, I was only kidding, Barry," she assured him, unwrapping the condom from it's package and fitting it on him securely, his breath hitching as she did and her heart beating rampantly in her ears at the anticipation of what was going to come soon.

Caitlin then leaned in to kiss him, which he happily obliged to reciprocate. Her fingers dragging tantalizingly down his pecs and then abs. Rocking her hips against his, the friction of their fronts pressing together, causing her to bite down on Barry's lower lip and for him to let out a low, embedded groan.

Barry's hands were all over her body, caressing anywhere he could reach before they started bunching up her sweater, raising it up above her breasts. Barry cupped her over her bra, squeezing them for good measure before he broke their kiss to trail his lips across the skin along the line of her bra. He then sucked at her covered nipples, causing his personal physician to throw her head back, gasping lightly. Her arms slung around his neck, pushing him further into her breasts, craving more. So he hoisted her bra up too, exposing her breasts to the air - the combined effort of the cold and Barry's mouth on her bare skin made both of her nipples erect and left her feeling incredibly turned on.

Though most of her senses were trained on what his mouth was doing on her upper body, she felt his hands move lower and start rubbing at her thighs. She clenched her legs against him, feeling him rubbing closer and closer to her core. His thumb pressed against her folds. "You're so wet," he commented lowly, his voice tight and breathy and awed. His thumb then rose, grazing her clit - rubbing small clockwise circles on it - causing Caitlin to let out a powerful moan, losing any patience or restraint she had left.

Grabbing a hold of his shoulders, Caitlin leaned up on her knees, giving their bodies some distance. Barry took the cue and situated his dick right under her pink flesh, rubbing the head of his cock teasingly against her folds a few times, sending a wave of pleasure through Caitlin that made her strengthen her grip on his shoulders and whimper into his neck. He chuckled, nuzzling his face against her breasts in his satisfaction before pushing himself in as far as he could go.

With him partially in her, Caitlin slowly sank down the rest of his shaft until she was sitting back on his lap. "Mmm," she sounded out blissfully at the feel of his length completely filling her.

Grabbing the back of his neck, playing with the hairs there, they locked eyes as she began gyrating her hips against his. The lust was obvious in his eyes as they kept diverting to her breasts, fascinated by the way they moved with her motions, hitting against his chest with every thrust.

The friction against their bodies rapidly increased - the windows of the car were all fogged up and she could feel sweat perspiring on her forehead. The meta side of her was basking in the heat being created and only wanted more and more of it. So, she started bouncing up and down on him a little harder, inciting pleasurable moans from the both of them that resonated throughout the car.

" _Fuck, Cait_ ," he grunted tightly after she came down on him a little harder than before. He trailed his large, warm hands down her body, spreading chills and goosebumps in its wake before settling them on her rear. He cupped her ass, feeling it up before using it as leverage to help her with the motions of grinding up and down against him a little harder and a little quicker.

"Oh, oh, oh, OH!" she let out, throwing her head back as she could feel her core starting to constrict against his dick. "B-Barry."

" _Me too_ ," was all he said, his head falling to her shoulder, his fingers latching at her desperately. She could feel and see his body grow tense under her, the muscles of his chest and arms protruding out as he started to ram up into her as she came hard down against him.

Caitlin licked her lips, eyes closing as she continued to ride him. "Oh, oh, _faster...please_ ," she sounded into his ear.

She felt the speedster merely nod his head against her. She suspected that he used some of his superspeed again when the friction in her loins superseded anything she had ever felt prior. Her legs quaked and a whiteness flashed overtook her eyes, like she had just looked directly into the sun, as his speedy thrusts sent her over the edge.

"Ahh- " she started, but Barry's lips slanted over hers, swallowing the rest of her moans. She soon felt his hips twitch violently under her's, his hands squeezing at her ass and a hum vibrating against her lips, indicating he too had just comed.

Breaking apart, the two scientists leaned their foreheads together, their breaths intermingling as they panted heavily, trying to get their wits together. The epiphany of their orgasms left their minds like tv static for a moment before the high of it dwindled.

"W-wow," Barry chuckled out, stuttering because his breathing was still slightly irregular from their activity.

Caitlin merely hummed as she climbed herself off of Barry, his dick half soft as it slid out of her. She plopped into the seat next to him, trying not to notice the wet spot she left on the front of his jeans as she pulled her bra and sweater back down into place.

"So..." Barry trailed off, glancing over at her as he carefully pulled off the condom and stuffed his dick back into his pants. "What does this mean?"

The doctor kept her whole focus on retrieving her underwear and pants. She shrugged as she put one leg in and then another. "Does it have to mean anything?" she casually asked, lifting her hips to pull her pants up higher.

She saw him turn away from her, looking through the fogged up window next to him, his jaw locking. He reached out, pressing a finger to the condensation on the glass, drawing a swirling circle larger and larger. "I guess not," he said softly.

Caitlin sighed, knowing he was upset. "Barry…" she let out unsurely. "I-I don't know what to tell you. Do you _want_ it to mean anything?"

She saw him close his eyes momentarily, taking in a calm breath. "Cait," he let out softly, turning to her. The vulnerability in his eyes reached right for her heart. "I know we said there were no feelings here between us," he continued, and her heart painfully panged at the reminder, "but," and he paused to turn in his seat, hooking his left leg up so he could fully face her, "whatever this is between us, it feels good. Like _really_ good," he admitted, bafflingly shaking his head. "And I don't want it to stop."

She nodded, silently agreeing that their love-making - while lacking love - was very passionate and intense. Their bodies molded together effortlessly and they were beautifully in sync. His body touching hers and feeling the heat wafting off him was something she now craved after experiencing it. She wanted him again, and again and again and again.

Caitlin nibbled down on her lower lip, tossing his words around in her head. "Then maybe we shouldn't stop," she finally spoke, her eyes looking into his curiously.

Barry scrunched up his face. "What do you mean?"

Caitlin took a deep breath. "That maybe...we can keep doing _this_ ," she said, gesturing between them, "having sex together, whenever we want."

Barry's forehead was nearly folding over itself as a nervous laugh fell from his lips. "You-you mean having sex, like a friends with benefits sort of thing?"

The biochemist cocked her head to the side. "That's what you were thinking initially though, correct?"

"What? No." The forensic scientist took a breath. "I - I don't know," he confessed, his hands clasped together, twiddling his thumbs. He then leaned forward, reaching out to gently grasp her neck, pressing their foreheads together. "I just know that this feels good. And that when I'm with you...it's - it's the best I've felt in a long time."

Caitlin closed her eyes, soaking in his proximity and the feelings that were encompassing her. It did feel good - great and marvelous even. She wanted this. She wanted to kiss him and touch him and make love to him. She wanted it so much. Were the circumstances ideal? No. But was she ever going to have a chance otherwise? _No_.

"Then lets make each other feel good," she whispered trepidly, her voice barely audible. "Our bodies obviously want this, and there's nothing holding us back," Caitlin supplied, which was true. They were responsible adults that were, most importantly, both single and unattached from other people. Of course, there were those pesky feelings of hers that were probably only going to amplify the more she deluded herself with this, but Barry didn't need to know that.

She felt him nod against her. "Nothing holding us back," he repeated softly, the phrase falling so earnestly from his lips. "But are you sure this is what you want?" He leaned back, gauging her expression.

Her libido was controlling her heart and her heart was controlling her brain. She knew this would eventually bite her in the ass. Nevertheless, she bowed her head, flashing him a shy smile. "I do," she answered, and Barry smiled at her serenely, the crinkles by his eyes prominent.

Her smile grew at his happiness, but her stomach still dropped with dread knowing that she just made another mistake to add to her ever growing mountain. And sometime soon her mistakes were going to crush her with an avalanche. She just wasn't sure though if this decision made her a masochist, or just merely human. All she knew was that Barry Allen was going to be the death of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading and enjoying the story so far, please leave a comment! :)


	4. chapter four

Despite her conflicting feelings about the friends-with-benefits agreement she made with Barry, Caitlin oddly felt lighter the next morning, but she couldn't explain why. She knew she was currently divulging into an illusion, and that this feeling was fragile and doomed to break, but her heart and the rest of her body were not on par with her brain. Just thinking about Barry made her lips turn upwards into a lazy smile. Reflecting back on the way he looked at her and touched her and kissed her. He made her feel special and wanted, even if the reasons were purely superficial on his part.

"Earth. To. Caitlin." A voice and a hand waving in front of her face broke through her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she sounded, looking innocently up in the direction of the voice only to see Cisco on the other side of the monitors in the Cortex, gazing at her puzzledly.

"I've been here for like 20 minutes, but you've been too busy in your La La Land to even notice me, which _stings_ , Caitlin," he told her, putting a hand over his heart, his expression feigning hurt. "It really stings."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "I'm sure your ego can withstand it."

"Besides the point," he told her, waving her off. "So, what were you thinking about? Hmm? Maybe about how you were going to repay your bestest friend for ditching his _Stranger Things_ marathon? Hmm?"

The biochemist winced. "Yeah, about that...sorry!"

"You guys were shouting things at me as you were leaving, but I didn't hear a word of it, so what the hell happened? You guys didn't even return my texts."

Caitlin offered him a guilty smile. "Sorry, again. But Barry, um, Barry wasn't feeling good. His...stomach was upset, which is abnormal anyway, so we left so...I...so I could run some tests. Yup, so I could run some tests, on him, to make sure it was nothing too serious."

Cisco squinted his eyes at her, his expression calculated and thoughtful. Even without his vibing powers, Cisco had always been very perceptive, especially of her, so she was worried that he'd see right through her lies and quickly figure out what was going on. "Maybe it was his burrito. Sometimes those things definitely pack a punch."

Letting out a breath of relief, Caitlin nodded her head. "Yeah...I think it was."

The mechanical engineer blew out a whistle. "Oooh, been there. Not fun. But he's good now, right?"

Her mind immediately flashed back to last night when they were in her car, limbs tangled, and damn was he… " _Very_ good," she accidentally said aloud, her voice low and twinged with a longing. At Cisco's raised brow, she quickly realized her mistake and immediately cleared her throat. "Yes, yes he's good - a lot better. It's like it didn't even happen. Heh."

"Riiiight," he drawled out, looking at her peculiarly. "Yeah, okay, you're being too weird today. What's going on?"

"I'm not being weird," she insisted, her eyes refusing to meet his as she looked at what was on her monitor instead as a distraction technique.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"No you're not, what?" a different voice asked from behind her, making her jump in her seat, holding a hand to her heart from the fright.

"Caitlin's acting weird," Cisco simply told their other friend.

Barry took a seat next to her at the console, leaning cooly on the chair's arm, smirking as he regarded her. "Oh yeah? What are you being weird about?"

She let out a huff. "I'm not being weird! Cisco just won't stop talking to me; I'm trying to get work done."

"I'm just asking simple questions, and Caitlin is stuttering and answering back to me in this shrilly voic-"

"No, I'm not," Caitlin interjected, her nose flaring as she sent Cisco a death glare.

Cisco looked at her as if he wasn't believing that for a second, but conceded. "Whatever," he said, giving up as he threw his hands up in the air in defeat. He turned to Barry. "How are you feeling? Better?"

Barry's forehead crinkled. "Yeah…?" he stated confusingly.

"Sorry about that bad burrito, man. We won't order from there again."

"Uh..." Barry let out unintelligently, looking over at Caitlin only to see her mouthing for him to 'just go with it'. "Right, um, the burrito," he relayed unsurely as he looked back at Cisco. "Very, _very_ bad."

Cisco nodded understandingly. "Yeah, Caitlin was telling me about the food poisoning you had last night. I guess speedsters aren't immune to that stuff like we thought. But it's fine, we can always watch the last episode of _Stranger Things_ some other time together."

Awareness finally dawned on the speedster. "Right, right, my _food poisoning_ ," he remarked, holding a hand to his stomach to mimic some of the false pain. "That's-that's why we had to leave so early last night. _Very_ _bad burrito_."

" _Right_ …" the longhaired man let out slowly, looking at Barry with the same sort of doubt and confusion as he had given Caitlin moments earlier.

Caitlin hurriedly stood up, grabbing at Barry's arm for him to do the same. "Right, so Barry is here so I can run a checkup, just to make sure everything is good again," she stated, pushing a bewildered Barry towards her office. "So we'll be in here," she hollered to Cisco without even bothering to look back.

Once in her office and the door shut firmly behind them, Caitlin turned to Barry only to be hit by a case of vertigo as he speeded her to the other side of the room, lifting her up onto the nearby counter. Caitlin let out a surprised squeak at her sudden change in location, her ponytail swinging hazardly back and forth from the abrupt motion.

"Barry!" she quietly scolded, her eyes looking out the small window in the door to make sure Cisco wasn't lurking. "You can't do that!"

"Sorry," he said over a chuckle, settling himself in between her legs. She sent him a leveled glare for not even trying to sound nor look sincere in the slightest. "I am honestly sorry," he insisted.

"Sure," she said dryly, but her lips were begging to break into a smile as she regarded him.

He smirked. "I was merely sweeping you off your feet," he said, which elicited a snort from Caitlin, making Barry grin winningly. His eyes flickered to her lips, causing the doctor's breath to hitch ever so briefly.

She cleared her throat. "Get on the bed," she said, pointing to the medical cot behind them.

Barry raised a brow as he backed away from her, easily hopping onto the cot when he reached it. "Very forward, Dr. Snow," he whispered sultry at her, winking. "I like it."

Caitlin fondly rolled her eyes as she hopped off the counter and grabbed her stethoscope from nearby. "How are you feeling today?" she asked as she further prepped her area. "Anything hurting?"

The speedster let out a displeasing sound. "Dr. Snow, it hurts _everywhere_ ," he said, pretending to be wounded. "I think you need to examine me," he suggested, his lips teetering towards a smile but trying to compose it. " _thoroughly_ ," he finished, finally letting himself break into a cheshire-like grin.

Caitlin looked at Barry with a mixture of humor and disbelief. "Barry, what are you doing?"

His demeanor visibly shrunk. "I - I thought we were doing some type of role-playing thing," he explained, eyeing her. "But I guess that's a no…?"

The doctor shook her head lightly as she blew her hot breath on the stethoscope's piece. "We're not doing anything at STAR Labs, let alone mere feet away from Cisco. I want to keep things between us quiet," she told him gently as she reached over and pulled his shirt up halfway.

His eyebrows nearly shot up to his hairline. "This is really giving me some mixed signals…" he teased, but, nevertheless, he took his shirt off the rest of the way to give her better access.

She giggled, her face softening. "Sorry, but I'm trying to conduct a checkup here."

His face scrunched up unpleasantly. "Are you really going to perform a whole checkup?" he grumbled.

"Yes, I am," she replied matter-of-factly. "It's still morning and I've already lied way too much. So if I said that I was going to give you a checkup, you're getting a checkup."

"Fine, fine," he relented with no irritation evident in his voice. "You are a terrible liar, so the less you have to lie, the better."

Gasping, she poked him lightly in the side. "Hey, you were no better, Mr. Very-Bad-Burrito."

"You didn't give me any warning," the speedster asserted, but before Caitlin could open her mouth to defend herself, Barry raised his hands in surrender, smiling at her innocently. "But okay, you're right, I'm not a good liar either."

The bioengineer snickered. "We're still quite the pair, aren't we?" she stated with a quirk of her lips as she moved the stethoscope to his heart, listening to the steady sound of it thumping to its (normal) elevated beat.

"Yes, we are," he said, staring into her eyes thoughtfully, and she swore his heart began beating just a tiny bit faster.

She cleared her throat again, diverting her eyes. "So, how do we go about our... _agreement_? I mean, obviously when one of us are feeling... _sexually inclined_ , we can seek out the other," she started, and Barry nodded. "But do we just go up to the other person and say, 'hey, I want the sex,' or what?"

A laugh sputtered passed Barry's lips. "I mean, that would work," he said, his hands reaching out to rub at her sides sensually. "But maybe we should do something more nonverbal if we're trying to be all clandestine ..." he said. "Like, what if we touched each other in some way?" he offered with a shrug.

"What, like groping the other's ass?" she guessed bluntly, "because I'm pretty sure that would be obvious."

Barry shook his head in amusement. "No, no," he assured her. "Though if you wanted to grope my ass as your signal, I would have no complaints," he told her with a wink, making her blush as her thoughts immediately envisioned doing just that.

"But I was thinking more along the lines of grazing your hand or something," he told her, his hands moving to interlock with both of hers; she tried to not think about how warm they were against her cold ones.

"That sounds pretty harmless," she admitted, "but I'd rather have something we could use near and far - in person or not. We, um, need to be more subtle about it," she said, detangling their hands, "so we need like a signal or a code word..."

"Hmmm," he let out. "How about…" he trailed off, positioning his mouth to the shell of her ear, whispering, " _the monkey wants the banana_."

Caitlin leaned back, wrinkling her nose. "The 'monkey wants the banana'? Really?" she incredulously asked.

"We could always go with _the_ _dog wants the bone_ or _the beaver wants the wood_ , if you'd rather prefer those," he said, a laugh spilling from his lips, he himself knowing these were ridiculous suggestions.

The doctor fondly rolled her eyes. "I think we should pick something that is not an obvious double entendre," she said, sending him a stern look.

Barry pouted adorably, and really is was taking all the will she had within her not to kiss him until both of their lips turned numb.

"Then I'm fresh out of ideas," he said.

"Why don't we just use a regular word, but when we bring it up randomly, that's our signal?" she suggested.

"And what would this word be?"

Caitlin stared to the side, thinking with her lips pursed. "How about...I don't know, coffee?"

" _Coffee_?" Barry repeated, one of his thick eyebrows arching.

"Yeah…" Caitlin said, shrugging. "Like if I were to randomly say, 'I want a cup of coffee' - that'd really be me saying that I want to have sex," she explained.

The speedster's eyes brightened. "Okay, so...would you like to get some coffee with me tonight?" he then asked, a knowing look on his face.

Caitlin blushed; she hadn't been expecting him to ask so soon. "I- I guess I could go for a _cup_ later, you know, only if a meta doesn't decide to cause mayhem…"

His grin grew tantalizing. "Well hopefully you'll only have to worry about one meta tonight," he replied lowly.

"Oh, will I now?" she let out, her dilated eyes glancing at his lips.

His grin turned cheeky. "So...7ish tonight?"

"7," she confirmed with a nod, a small seed of anxiety embedding itself in her abdomen at the anticipation of it. "Now," she said, changing the subject as she picked up her stethoscope again and moved it to another part of his chest, "I need you to take deep breaths for me."

His eyes softened, shining affectionately. "Yes, Dr. Snow."

.

The usual work load at STAR Labs, plus a couple petty crimes that Flash aided to, kept Caitlin occupied for most of the day. However, once she reached her apartment, the little seed of anxiety that had been planted earlier that morning had now bloomed into full panic.

She was nervous about Barry coming over.

Caitlin paced back and forth in her living room trying to calm herself down. She had already cleaned every surface she saw in an effort to distract herself from the ticking of her clock that she tried not to obsessively watch.

It wasn't so much the sex part that was making Caitlin nervous, since they've had sex twice now and, if anything, she knew they could _perform_ easily. And it wasn't as if she was self conscious, for she was pretty confident about her body and any apprehension she had about Barry seeing her naked flew out the window by now. No, it was the context around the sex this time that was throwing her for a loop.

Each time they've had sex, it was spurred on spontaneously. No time did they actually schedule when to have sex. But this time was obviously different. They actually planned to have sex, making it feel so formal and mechanical. Would it now be awkward because it was planned? Would they talk first and then have sex? Or would he expect her to open the door naked and get right to it? Was she just overthinking it too much?

A knock then sounded against her door.

Caitlin quickly looked at the clock. _6:37pm_. It was too early to be Barry, she rationalized, but as she opened the door, she was proven very wrong. Because there was Barry, looking way too good in his denim jacket, with... _pizza?_

"Hey," he greeted her warmly, his smile full and earnest but also apprehensive, his feet alternating between which foot should hold more of his weight. He seemed to have the jitters, which Caitlin deducted meant he was probably nervous too, and that fact made her smile, finally relaxing.

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong apartment," she spoke up, crossing her arms under her breasts, pushing them upwards, and pretending not to notice that Barry's gaze lowered for a split second. "I didn't order a pizza."

His face wrinkled first in confusion, before he licked his lips, smirking. "You didn't know? You won a free pizza!"

"Really? Wow! But I don't know if I can eat it all by myself..." she admitted, shrugging sadly.

He tried very hard not to laugh, if his wavering lips gave any indication. "Well, if you don't tell my boss," Barry said, taking a step forward, "maybe I can help you with that."

Caitlin looked at him for a single moment before her resolve crumbled and she let out a laugh. "Oh God, this feels like the start of a porno," she commented shyly, ushering her friend into her apartment. "I don't think roleplaying is for me."

Barry chuckled as he entered, hanging up his jacket on the coat hanger by the door, showing off the plain white t-shirt he had been wearing underneath. Caitlin couldn't help but admire the way those shirts really showed off his biceps quite nicely.

She tore her gaze away. "You're early," Caitlin noted as she disappeared into the kitchen only to come back out moments later with plates in hand.

He smirked. "I said 7 _ish_ ," he replied as he put the pizza box down on her coffee table.

"Mmm, so emphasis on the _ish_ ," she said, taking a seat on her couch.

Barry followed suit. "Exactly," he answered with an impish grin, opening up the box and grabbing a couple slices for himself.

"So...pizza?"

He frowned. "Did you already eat?"

"Actually no," she said as she reached out to grab a slice and put it on her plate. She had been running herself too much into a frenzy over his arrival to even think about eating. She let out a giggle; out of all the scenarios she had played out in her head for tonight, Barry showing up early with pizza was not one of them.

"What's so funny?" he asked, his lips stretched into an amused grin.

"I just...it's nothing." She shook her head, dismissing it.

"What?" Barry gently prodded, finishing off his plate and reaching for another. "You can tell me."

She bit down on her lower lip. "I - I just - I didn't expect you to bring food to a hook up," she admitted, letting out a small huff of a laugh before taking a bite.

Looking up at Barry, she could've sworn that for a millisecond there that Barry frowned, but by the time she blinked, he was chuckling around a piece of pizza. "I figured we were going to need our energy," he said, his eyes twinkling.

Her face burned with a blush, her imagination already running wild. She averted her eyes, clearing her throat. "Oh, I see, so you just want to make sure you don't get tuckered out."

His mouth fell open in playful dismay. "Now, now! At least I'm not the one who has actually fallen asleep after sex!"

"That was the _one_ time," she argued, holding up her index finger close to his face to further emphasize her point. "And I was exhausted because I had been looking after you for most of the night, making sure you didn't die and all," she interjected with a stern look. "You're welcome, by the way."

His face sombered, but his grin was still intact and light. "I guess I can let that time slip then, just this once."

"Well thank you. That's very considerate," she teasingly responded, quickly darting her tongue out at him childishly.

He simply smiled at her, his eyes so soft that it made her feel like she was lying on the world's softest pillow. "Can I kiss you?" he asked suddenly, like he had been wanting to ask for a while now, but his words tumbled out gently, like he wasn't in a rush despite his eagerness.

She let out a breathy and nervous laugh as she nodded her head. "Yeah...yes."

The speedster's smile widened as he scooted closer to her on the couch, licking his lips hesitantly as his eyes bore into hers. He leaned in and so did she, their eyes flickering closed as they inched closer and closer, only for their noses to bump sorely.

The duo's eyes flew open, but as they caught each other's gaze, only laughter resulted. Caitlin suddenly felt like she was a teenager all over again - sitting on her parent's couch with her crush, awkwardly trying to figure out how to position their lips and hands and bodies. It wasn't a bad feeling though; it made her feel lighter than she had in years.

He reached up to touch where his nose was hit. "Maybe we really _are_ still teenagers," Barry commented over his laughter, referencing to their conversation from a few nights before - the conversation that inevitably started... _this_.

She softly cleared her throat "I was thinking something similar too," Caitlin admitted lightheartedly. "How we're fumbling around like inexperienced kids."

He chuckled before his expression turned thoughtful. "Do you think teenage us would have still been friends?"

"Would I have wanted to? You made yourself out to be quite the awkward dork the other day," she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Ha ha," he deadpanned. "Awkward dorks need to have friends too, you know. But seriously, do you think we would have been friends back then if we had gone to school together or something?"

"I don't know," she answered, shrugging. "Why does it matter when we're friends now?"

He shrugged back. "I don't know...just wondering how things would have been," he said, dropping his gaze to where his hands were on her waist, playing with the fabric.

"What? Were you in need of a makeout buddy then to?" she asked amusingly.

Barry snorted, his eyes meeting hers again. "I mean, that definitely would've made high school a lot more bearable."

She snorted. "Well maybe you would've made out with more people if you didn't talk as much…"

His one eyebrow rose. "What are you trying to say, Dr. Snow?"

"To shush," she told him simply, pulling him forward by the back of his neck, inevitably silencing him with a kiss.

His lips spread into a grin against her own as he reached up to cradle her face, holding it like fine china as he kissed back. She felt like her mind was going numb in the most pleasing way possible as they deepened the kiss, their tongues intertwining; she had to grip at the front of his shirt to ground her back to reality.

"Mmm," Barry hummed out contently as they broke apart for air, their breaths heavy against each other. "Pizza flavored kiss."

She scrunched up her nose. "Oh god," she let out embarrassingly. "I'm going to go brush my teeth," she said, making a move to get up, but Barry gently grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back down, his mouth hovering over her own.

"It's honestly not bad," he said, before laying a small peck against her pouty lower lip. "Unless, you don't like my own pizza breath."

She shook her head. "It's fine," she insisted.

"Good, 'cause yours is too," he told her.

She sighed. "Are you sure? Because-"

"Cait," he interrupted.

"Hmm?"

"Shush," he told her with an alluring grin before connecting their lips once more, ultimately shutting _her_ up now.

Eventually, they both fell sideways on the couch, their legs tangling as their lips continued to caress each other's slowly and serenely. Caitlin could do this all day - feeling his lips against hers, feeling this flicker of electricity course through her. It was like the tiny sparks that appeared when starting a fire, making her lips tingle and her body crackle with anticipation for more.

She tugged at his shirt, making it ride up his back. The speedster tore himself away just enough to take off his shirt, Caitlin being prompted to do the same. Both of them threw their clothes to the side thoughtlessly, not caring, as they met back in the middle, kissing each other soundly on the mouth.

His hand trailed down her side, and for being a speedster, he went about it so agonizingly slow, taking his time as he reached her thigh, gripping it as he pulled her up against him. She could feel his growing hardness rubbing against her front, teasing her and making her crave him even more. " _Barry_ ," she quietly whimpered, her body both tingling and burning for him.

His hand wandered to her pants, skimming along its top. He popped the button effortlessly and pulled its zipper down. "Is this fine?" he asked, his hand hovering, waiting for her confirmation.

" _Yes_."

He nodded before slipping his hand in between the pant's slit, putting pressure on her pussy, rubbing against her clit through her underwear. Caitlin cooed, her thighs clenching.

"More?"

The doctor let out a frustrated groan. She was all for being treated with respect and courtesy, but dammit she just wanted _something_ \- be it his hands or his mouth or his cock - in her already, relieving some of this tension between her legs. " _Yesss_ ," Caitlin quietly sounded, arching her body into his touch.

His mouth latched onto one of her neglected breasts as Barry's hand ventured further in her pants. He slid past her underwear's barrier, his fingers dancing along her outer folds before he dipped his middle finger into her pussy, followed soon by his index finger. Caitlin bit down on her lip, squirming pleasingly under his touch, fighting the urge to be too loud. She lustfully watched Barry's mouth attached to her, feeling his tongue twirling around and probing her chest in tandem with his gloriously long, _long_ fingers working their magic inside of her.

She threw her head back against the couch's cushion, letting out a surprising scream as she suddenly felt the exotic touch of Barry's teeth grazing against one of her pert nipples. She was so close. The sensation was coiling, compressing more and more tightly. But just as she was on the brink of her orgasm, Barry tilted himself back, smugly grinning at her as he withdrew his fingers.

"I may be The Flash, but I don't want you to go too quickly," he said. She let out a whine and he only laughed. "Permission to take off your pants?"

She licked her lips, still trying to catch her breath from his previous ministrations. " _Yes_ ," she rasped out impatiently. "You know...you don't have to...ask me before you do something... every time," she told him in between her breaths, her legs being pulled up by Barry so that he could take her trousers off.

Barry successfully pulled the pants off her legs and threw them to the other side of the room. He turned back to her, suspending himself over her gently, smiling at her adoringly. "I just want to make sure you're comfortable. I don't want it to feel like I'm taking advantage of you, or our friendship."

"You're not," she immediately stated, shaking her head as her hands felt up his chest, appreciating its softness despite the muscles present. "I will let you know if I don't like something, but otherwise just... _feel,_ " she said just as her one hand reached his crotch, feeling the outline of his dick and doing her best to stroke it through his pants. The speedster lolled his head, choking out a groan. "If that's okay with you, of course."

"Y-yeah, I- I like that idea," he said, causing Caitlin to giggle at his dorkiness.

"Well then, I think someone else needs to take off their pants," she commented, eyeing the jeans distastefully.

Barry chuckled before quickly sliding off the couch, pulling his pants and underwear down completely, his dick popping out fully erect.

"I'm prepared this time," he told her, smiling proudly at her as he showed off a condom that he retrieved from his pocket. He opened it and fitted it on his length before kneeling back down on the sofa.

Caitlin smirked. "Being safe and prepared is a turn on," she spoke.

"So, I've found your kink," he teased with wagging eyebrows, running his hands up and down her thighs.

She snorted as Barry spread her legs apart, lining up his dick with her entrance. He looked down at her, his expression lustful but hesitant and unsure. She knew he wanted to ask her despite her already giving her consent numerous times, but it was just too Barry of a thing to do to be annoyed over. So she gave him a nod to continue and relief visibly overtook his body as he nodded back, pushing himself into her.

"Ooh," Caitlin let out, practically purring as she felt his length fill her snuggly.

" _Fuck_ ," Barry expelled, his hands flexing at her hips. "You feel so good," he voiced as he settled himself in her.

He started to move himself in and out, in and out - slow and shallow to start. The bioengineer reached up, draping her arms around Barry's neck, pulling him down so their fronts squished together, their nipples grazing each other's chest arousingly. They moaned into each other's mouth as they shared a languid kiss, before Barry tenderly moved her hair to the side and attached his lips to her neck, kissing his way up exactly where her pulse was thrumming under the surface. Caitlin let out a gasp, her hands clamping down on his shoulder, her grip tightening as he reached the sensitive spot near her ear. Her hips instinctively lifted into one of his strokes, causing him to go deeper, emitting embedded groans from them both.

" _Bar-ry_ ," she hollered, breaking his name breathily. "... _H_ _ard-er_."

Nodding, the speedster took a moment to put his foot on the ground next to the couch, leveraging himself before resuming his strokes. Steadily his pace increased along with its intensity, his length filling her fully, each stroke causing ripples of pleasure to course through her.

" _Ooooooh_ ," Caitlin let out lowly, her fingers finding their way into his hair, her nails lightly scratching at his scalp, feeling herself drawing closer to her orgasm again. " _More_."

Barry lifted her legs to rest them on his shoulders, allowing him to penetrate just a little bit deeper, making Caitlin's eyes roll into the back of her head. He began pounding into her, the momentum powerful enough that she could clearly hear the clap his balls made against her as he thrusted forward, his speed edging towards super.

" _Oh, oh, Ooooooooooh_ ," she moaned, her orgasm making waves throughout her body, her nerves tingling all over, her feet curling.

Barry pumped himself a few more moments before his figure grew tense and then eventually grew still as his hips convulsed against her. "Damn, Cait," he choked out as his head fell to her shoulder, his forehead damp from his exertion.

Caitlin blew out a breath. "That - that was... _something_ ," she inarticulately said, her mind a blank slate that was slowly gaining back her intelligence. "Wow…"

The speedster grunted in agreement before picking up his head from her shoulder to look at her, his signature dopey smile stretched wide across his face. It immediately made her grin back, her thumb subconsciously rubbing circles on the inside of his wrist.

"Have you realized that each time we've had sex now, it's been in a different place?" he asked randomly. "How adventurous."

She chortled, rolling her eyes fondly. "I would highly doubt having sex in my bed, car and on my couch would be categorized as adventurous."

He cocked his head to the side, contemplating. "Baby steps," he murmured. "We can work our way up to more... _exotic_ places," he said with a simple shrug.

"Mmhmm, like where?" she wondered aloud, curious to see where his mind was, like how long did he see this _agreement_ between them continuing?

"Well, with my speed, we could really go anywhere in the world. The Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, Machu Picchu - you name it."

Caitlin raised a brow. "Those seem a little _too_ _adventurous_ of spots…" she mused with a giggle.

"Those are the endgame destinations," he simply said, making Caitlin snort. "But for now, maybe we can find a deserted beach…" he suggested, reaching out to caress her face.

Her face scrunched up. "Sand would get everywhere," she pointed out amusingly.

"We'd put down a towel."

Caitlin's expression remained unconvinced.

"A really, really big towel."

She laughed again, unable not to. "I'd have to see this really, really big towel."

"I'll buy it first thing tomorrow. It'll be bigger than any towel you've seen before and it will effectively keep us sand free. We'll make a whole day out of it by just soaking up the sun and swimming in the ocean..."

"Packing up a picnic basket and making sand castles," Caitlin chimed in.

His grin grew. "Exactly - and we'd top it off by watching the Sun set."

She could envision it so clearly that her heart started pumping with excitement. "It sounds perfect," she said, longing for such a day, especially with the man currently with her.

His amusement and excitement melted into something softer, but she couldn't quite place what exactly the expression was. "Yeah…"

A ringtone then sounded, crackling through their daydreaming.

"That's me," Barry muttered, reaching down besides the couch where his pants were to fish his phone out of his pocket. The ridges of his spine were prominent as he sat on the edge of the sofa, sighing as he looked at the name and sending Caitlin a look of apology over his shoulder before he took the call. "Hey, Captain...Yeah...Oh, I see...Umm, no, no, I can come in, yeah. Just give me time to get there. Yeah, bye."

"You have to leave?" she asked, trying to keep her disappointment out of her voice.

"Yeah…" he let out dejectedly before clearing his throat. "A murder happened by the docks, so they need forensics…" he looked up at her under his eye-lashes, conveying to her that he didn't really want to leave, or maybe just that he felt guilty for leaving so soon.

She nodded her head. "Okay."

He then got up, and she tried to not to check out his rear as he leaned down to pick up his pants, but he honestly had such a nice butt. It was hard not to look when he waltzed around the Cortex in his tight Flash bottoms, let alone when it was bare and _right there_ in front of her.

"Checking me out, Dr. Snow?" he teased with a wink as he pulled up his jeans.

She flushed, hating how she was caught in the act. However, his own eyes were very clearly looking at her body, and she suddenly was very aware of her own nakedness. However, by the desire clearly present behind those green orbs of his, it gave her the boost of confidence that refrained her from trying to immediately cover herself.

"No more than you, Mr. Allen," she appraised, leveling him with a knowing look.

"Touché," he said, chuckling sheepishly. He threw her shirt to her before picking up his own and putting it on. "I think that's everything…" he said, his eyes scanning the room one more time to make sure he had all of his belongings. "I guess I should go..." he continued, standing in the center of her living room, looking cemented to his spot, as if gravity was heavier there, making it harder for him to move.

"I guess," Caitlin said, stepping into her panties as she got up from the sofa and making her way to the door to politely see him out.

They stood in front of her door, just staring at each other for a moment. Barry rubbed the back of his neck as Caitlin fidgeted her hands.

"Um...thanks?" Barry expressed confusingly. "I - I don't really know how to...do we kiss? Hug?"

Caitlin laughed before wrapping her arms around his waist, laying her ear against his chest, holding onto him tightly. She was pleased to feel him hug her just as tightly back, even laying a small kiss on the top of her hair.

"Good night, Barry," she said, detaching herself from the speedster.

"Good night, Caitlin."

...

"Hey, guys."

Caitlin and Cisco both turned from their consoles to find Barry standing in the Cortex's entryway, shortly waving at them as he entered. Caitlin hated that just the sight of him now made her heart race. It was true that she had always liked Barry, but she had been able to control it - face neutral with her emotions in check and kept under lock and key. But now that they've slept together a couple times, it was like her feelings for him were leaking from her pores and she felt so obvious, like the sound of her pulse was being amplified throughout STAR Labs' intercom system and that her feelings were plastered to her forehead like a billboard sign.

"What's up?" Cisco asked, "and why do you have one of the CCPD's meta-weapons that I made them?"

Barry shuffled in place. "Uh…It stopped working, I think...They didn't specify," the forensic scientist said with a shrug, handing the device to Cisco who immediately began looking at it, trying to dissect the problem.

The speedster's attention then swiveled to her, his features becoming more alert. "Hey, Caitlin, since Cisco is busy, could you help me with the Keurig machine? I'm terrible at using it."

She frowned, finding the request odd. "Okay," she let out unsurely as she got up and made her way down the hall to the break room with Barry following diligently behind her.

As they both entered the break room and its door closed behind them, Barry reached out for her hand, spun her around and laid a soft kiss on her lips.

"Oh, _Keurig_... _Coffee_ ," she mumbled, making the connection, as he leaned back from the kiss.

Barry chuckled contently, his thumbs rubbing at her hips soothingly. "I've been wanting to do that since I left you last night," he admitted.

A blush spread across her cheeks from his admission, causing her stomach to swirl and her heart to flutter. But he really shouldn't be doing things like that, saying things like that. They weren't together. He was still just her friend, albeit a friend she now had sex with.

She cleared her throat. "Barry, you shouldn't-" she started.

"Oh, sorry, right, not at STAR Labs. I forgot," he interrupted, taking a step back, and even though logically she knew that was best, she couldn't help but instantly miss his closeness. "It won't happen again."

"It's fine." she told him. "It's just that STAR Labs is really the one place everyone comes to, and I don't want anyone finding out about our agreement - they wouldn't understand."

The area between his eyebrows creased as he nodded his head. "Yeah, no, that makes sense," he said, chuckling awkwardly. "They'd probably want to lecture us about it and all..."

"Right," Caitlin agreed. "And we know what we're doing."

" _Totally_ …"

The break room's door then flung open, hitting harshly against the wall, making the pair jump in their places.

"Barry!" Cisco hollered, coming through the door, holding the special gun in his hand. "It was just powered off...nothing was wrong with it…"

Barry's eyes obviously averted hers, looking only at Cisco. "Wow! You don't say," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's _weird_ that it was such a simple fix," he continued, grabbing the weapon. He cleared his throat. "I guess I'll leave now...to let them know that."

With that he flashed away, leaving both of the geniuses still left in the room to look at each other puzzledly.

"Was that weird for you too?" Cisco asked her, a dumbfounded look plastered on his face.

"Very."

"Huh," Cisco let out, crossing his arms. "It's almost like he made an excuse to come here and give me busy work. But why would he even do that?"

Caitlin bit her lip, fighting back the inclination to snicker. "I have no idea."

.

Later that day, with a coffee tray in hand, Caitlin made her way to the CCPD. She hadn't seen Joe when she peeked her head into the bullpen area, but she did see Captain Singh who assured her that their forensic scientist was upstairs. In fact, the Captain told her that Barry wasn't supposed to leave until all their evidence was processed, which was apparently far from it.

So as she trudged up the stairs and poked her head into the lab, sure enough, there was Barry. He had his head rested on his hand as he stared at the computer monitor in complete disinterest, mindlessly clicking.

"So forensics isn't all fun and games, huh?" The question made his head comically snap to her direction, making her giggle. "Hello," she properly greeted him now that she had his attention.

"Hey," he let out softly, his lips curving upwards as she walked further into his lab. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the mood for some coffee," she said, laying the tray that held the coffees on his desk. "And Jitters happens to be just a mere block from the precinct, so I thought I'd just drop by and say 'hi'."

He smirked. "That sounds awfully like an excuse to see me," he teased.

"Hmm, much like yours was earlier, huh?" she said, picking up one of the cups and taking a sip.

Barry's smile strained. "Was it that obvious?"

"Obvious that you wanted a quickie during your lunch break? To Cisco, no. To me, yes," she told him, her tone humorous. "Though Cisco did think it was _really_ weird."

The speedster sighed. "That's not-" he paused to shake his head, seemingly backtracking from that original sentence. "Do you think Cisco is suspicious?" he instead said.

Caitlin shook her head. "I don't think he's suspicious, per se. But I think you've definitely piqued his curiosity, so he'll probably be watching you like a hawk for a little bit."

Barry frowned. " _Great_ ," he let out, depraved. "As if I didn't already have one person breathing down my neck already."

"Captain Singh?"

Barry nodded. "Things got a little backed up this week, so he's been hovering all day today, making sure I get it all done before the weekend. And since he's been checking up on me all day, I've only been able to use my speed sparingly - otherwise he'd know something is up."

The doctor scrunched up her face sympathetically. "I'm sorry," she said, running a comforting hand down his arm. "Will coffee make it better?" she then asked, offering him the leftover cup she had on the tray. She had gotten it for him anyway.

Barry's mouth twitched as he gratefully took the drink. "So does bringing one coffee just mean regular coffee or is it a code for... _coffee_?" he asked humorously as he took a tentative sip.

She fondly rolled her eyes. "Sorry to disappoint, but it's just regular, plain old coffee."

Barry's face contorted into an exaggerated frown, causing Caitlin to giggle, but they were soon interrupted by a beeping sound, prompting Barry to get up from his chair to retrieve a paper from the printer. She guessed it was results of some sort.

"So what have you been doing all day?" she asked, leaning back against his desk.

Barry shrugged, his eyes roaming over the results in his hand. "Same old, same old," he insisted. "A lot of reports. I had to write up a carbon dating report, tons of DNA sequencing reports and then a couple chemical compound reports…" he then suddenly trailed off with a tired huff, his eyes finding hers. "Sorry, boring stuff."

"No, I love hearing these kind of things," she insisted. "I always thought your day job was immensely interesting."

The speedster's head jolted back, his face stunned. "For real?"

"Yeah…" she answered, nervously laughing as she found herself becoming self-conscious as Barry looked at her with an awe-inspired expression. "What?" she inquired, pushing her hair back behind her ears, biting her lip.

"Nothing," he breathed out before walking up to her and laying a searing kiss against her lips that sent currents of emotions and feelings flowing through her body, a warmth sizzling in her bloodstream.

As he broke the kiss, the impulsiveness behind it intrigued her. "What was that for?" she quietly wondered, their mouths still hovering in close proximity as her eyes entrancingly looked up into his soulful green orbs. She wanted answers, and while his eyes were expressive of something tender, she couldn't read them further.

"You're just... _amazing_ , Caitlin Snow," he began. "So simply and wonderfully amazing, and...I-I don't know. I'm sorry."

Caitlin immediately shook her head. "Barry, it's-"

"Did I cross a line? I'm sor-" but she didn't let him finished his second apology. She grabbed at his buttoned-up shirt and pulled him back down to her level, kissing him with the same fervor as he had moments before because he was amazing too, in ways he probably would never even realize unless she told him. He had saved her from herself more than once, always the one wielding the flashlight when she thought she was lost for good.

"Now...what was _that_?" Barry asked through a shaky laugh, breath labored as they pulled apart.

She took a second to compose herself. "You were doing that thing...where you talk too much again," she told him, still slightly winded, her lips spitting into a teasing grin.

Barry only laughed quietly to himself before recapturing her lips, and Caitlin immediately reciprocated. Her hands circled themselves around his neck, her fingers playing with the hair on his nape. The speedster lifted her up to gently place her on top of his desk, his one hand going up her skirt, the material riding up, as he caressed her thigh.

The doctor wrapped her legs around his waist in an effort to pull his body even closer to her. The heat wafting off of him was addictive and his kiss and touch were euphoric. His body was humming against her, buzzing with a want that was reverberating in her own bones too. She wanted him _so badly_ and the feeling felt mutual.

Caitlin's one hand travelled down to his growing bulge, feeling it through the material of his trousers. His dick twitched as she pulled down the zipper and fitted her petite hands into the openings of Barry's pants and boxers. Her fingers grazed the smooth skin of his shaft, causing Barry's hips to jerk into her touch, his mouth detaching to let out a pleased groan.

In retaliation, he swiped his thumb against her clit, vibrating it every so delicately. The pressure and rhythm had Caitlin biting down on his shoulder as he vibrating against her in circles.

It was all so bizarre because she hadn't shown up to Barry's work to fool around - only to tease him about earlier - but here she was with her hands in his pants and his up her skirt. And not only were they at Barry's job, but this was the _police station_ for crying out loud. But despite all of this, she couldn't pull away. Barry Allen was just a temptation she kept surrendering to, where her heart led and inhibitions were thrown out the window.

She pulled Barry's penis completely out of his pants, stroking it a few times as she leaned back, positioning it near her now very wet womanhood. The speedster, always so quick, moved her panties to the side, allowing for his dick to enter her easily, causing them to both let out muted groans.

Barry started thrusting, and knowing they had to be quick because of their predicament, he started out faster than he usually did. His desk was creaking under the momentum and all the items on it wobbled violently with each stroke. Caitlin began quietly chanting his name as she peppered kisses along his throat. Her nails sunk into his back as he kept it up, feeling his own muscles tense under her fingers meaning he was probably close to finishing.

He started vibrating his dick as he drove into her, and Caitlin's eyes flew open at the overwhelming sensation before falling shut as Barry vibrated his thumb against her clit again. She let out a scream into his chest, hoping it was muffled enough not to draw people to the lab, because _damn_ she really hadn't been ready for so much pleasure so quickly. Her pussy was pulsing as he thrusted through her orgasm, his face falling into the crook of her neck, groaning and grunting as he reached his own too.

"Did we...Did we really just-"

"Yeah…"

"I thought you said this was just going to be a plain old, non-sex coffee thing," he said in-between pants.

Caitlin cackled through her own labored breaths. "It was supposed to be."

Barry joined her in her laughter as they melded against each other, spent but basking in the afterglow, reality slowly but surely coming back into focus. Suddenly Caitlin could hear the phones ringing downstairs, the ding of the elevator, and heavy footsteps approaching.

Caitlin's eyes blew wide. "Barry, someone is coming!" she quietly shrieked.

In a flash, Barry was on the other side of the room, stuffing his penis back into his pants. Meanwhile, Caitlin was only able to straighten her skirt before the heavy, metal door of the lab was pulled open.

"Caitlin?"

The doctor crossed her legs as she turned to face their visitor. "Joe!" she tried to let out enthusiastically, but inside she was quaking out of the fear that he heard them. "Hi, how are you?"

Joe raised his eyebrow. "I'm alright. I'm looking for Barry…" he trailed off, his eyes searching the room until they landed on the speedster over in the corner by his microscope.

"You need something, Joe?" Barry asked, walking over. Despite the casual way he was acting, he still sent a worried glance Caitlin's way.

"Captain Singh asked me to check up on you - to see how you are progressing," Joe said, eyeing a pile of evidence in the corner that still hadn't been touched. "Which I guess is still in progress…"

Barry stuck his neck out, embarrassed.

"So what brings you over, Caitlin?" Joe asked, swiveling his attention to the doctor, and she suddenly felt like he was looking at her under a huge magnifying glass.

"Um, I was just bringing Barry coffee," she said, gesturing to the cups that she now saw had fallen to the floor in the midst of their sex session. "Which I clumsily dropped… apparently."

"And Barry didn't save it from falling?" the detective asked skeptically, glancing between the two.

Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "I - I was busy looking over the evidence," he said, pointing to the microscope he had been at when Joe walked in. "Plus, I can't stop _everything_ from falling."

Joe nodded, conceding to the point. "Well clean it up. We don't need another thing for Singh to complain about."

Barry obediently nodded his head before flashing through the cleaning process and standing back to his original spot like nothing happened.

"Now get your work done," Joe told his foster son, making his way out. "Nice to see you, Caitlin," Joe said over his shoulder.

"You too!" she hollered at his retreating back before turning trepidly to Barry. "Do you think he heard us?"

Her friend laughed. "I don't think so, otherwise I think I would be getting my ear reamed through."

Caitlin nodded her head but couldn't help but bite at her lip in worry.

"Hey," Barry said, his hands cupping her face. "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," she told him. "I've just...I've never done something like this before so I'm being all paranoid."

"Do you want me to run back in time to stop us?" he joked.

The doctor snorted. " _No_ ," she told him firmly, covering her hands over his, bringing them down to her lap for her to hold. "No one needs a sequel to flashpoint."

"Fair enough," he said, chuckling. "But just know that I would - for you."

"Appreciated," she told him, looking down at their intertwined hands, trying to ignore the way her heart skipped at his words.

"Hey, Caitlin?"

"Hmmm?" she said, her brown meeting his green.

His mouth was spread in one of the dopiest grins she had ever witnessed on him. "We had sex in another location."

She groaned, which only seemed to spur him further.

"This time, you gotta admit, it was adventurous."

"Sure..."

"Where should we have sex next time?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "The supply closet? The roof? The-"

"Next time we have sex, I swear it's going to be in my bed," Caitlin interrupted.

Barry's lips only widened, the crinkles by his eyes deepening. "Mmm, and when is that?"

Caitlin smirked as she jumped off his desk, straightening out her skirt. "How about if you finished your work early enough, then you can come over."

Barry's grin slid off his face as he groaned. "That's going to be impossible. Have you seen the stack of stuff I still have left?" he said, gesturing to the pile of evidence that still had to be processed.

She simply shrugged, somewhat enjoying this torment. "I thought we believed in the impossible?"

The speedster's mouth wavered upwards, breaking his miserable facade. "We do," he agreed gently.

"Then I better get going; I don't want to distract you any further," she told him, giving him a knowing glance that had them both blushing.

Barry cleared his throat. "Can I get an incentive before you leave though?"

She raised a brow. "What more of an incentive do you need?" she amusingly questioned.

He walked closely up to her, his eyes focused on her lips. "One kiss?" he cheekly requested.

Caitlin pursed her lips, but complied, not being able to deny the parting gesture for her own selfish reasons, wanting as much of him as he was willing to give her.

She broke the kiss a moment later, her eyes remaining closed for just a second longer, holding onto that lingering tingle from their kiss, her mind feeling fuzzy. And when she finally did open her eyes, she was surprised to see that Barry was just blinking his open as well.

"See you later," he told her softly - a promise.

Dazedly, Caitlin began walking backwards toward the exit. "Don't make me wait too long, Mr. Allen."

Barry smiled, the expression teetering towards smug. "Never, Dr. Snow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finallyyyy, I updated! I can't believe it's been almost 3 months. So sorry! But how did you guys like this chapter? Please let me know in a lovely comment! Next chapter should be in Barry's POV, so we'll be seeing more of what he's thinking next time. :)


	5. chapter five

It had been a two weeks since Caitlin was at his lab, but Barry still couldn't look at his desk quite the same. He'd just be writing up another dull report, like how he was now, and then he'd remember her sitting on his desk all prettily, the sound of everything on it getting jostled as he thrusted into her, her nails digging desperately into his back, the unrestrained moan she tried to muffle into his chest...

He shook his head, trying not to think of these things at work.

Caitlin Snow was honestly something else. She was continuing to surprise him every day, and not just with their agreement either, but by how much she'd been letting him in lately. They've been talking a lot over the takeout dinners he keeps insisting on bringing over each time they decide to hook up. And over the faux dinner dates, she had been becoming so open and sharing things he doesn't think she's ever told anyone else - stories ranging from the poodle she had when she was a young kid to her home life during her father's illness. He loved each and every one of those conversations just as much as the sex (maybe even more, if he was being completely honest).

Suddenly his phone buzzed continuously against his leg, indicating that someone was calling him. He fished the device out of his pocket, a smile taking over his face as he answered.

"Hey, Cait," he greeted easily, but he was only met with frantic hollering.

"Barry, there's a massive fire across town on Birmingham street!"

At his personal physician's urgency, Barry immediately jumped to his feet and flashed his way to STAR Labs to retrieve his suit. Cisco already had live-coverage of the massive fire on one of the screens in the cortex - it looked like it was already too out of control for the firefighters.

"You want to come with me?" he asked Caitlin, pulling his cowl over his head.

He saw a flicker of hesitance pass over face, and it pained him how little faith she had in her abilities. Caitlin was fully capable of controlling her powers - and had been for a couple years now - but she seldom went out into the field, claiming she was more useful behind the scenes.

"You could really help the firefighters by cooling things down while I go to save the people," he said, hoping to nudge her into joining him.

"Barry, tons of people are trapped in a fiery building!" she said, gesturing to the live feed of the disaster. "By the time I get dressed, the whole building could collapse."

Her rationalization was sound, but Barry only smirked. "Good thing you're teaming up with a speedster then, right?" he said, giving her a knowing glance.

A recognition shone in her eyes. "But-," she huffed, throwing her hands in the air in defeat. "Fine!"

With a smug grin, Barry flashed to grab her Frost gear. He was back before anyone could blink, whirling her around in circles as he changed her, her "Caitlin" clothes flying across the cortex.

"Good?" he asked her as he completed his task, skidding to a stop.

Caitlin gave herself a look over, before sending him a stern expression as she morphed her brown hair and eyes into Frost's signature white. "Let's go."

"Dude, did you - did you just change Caitlin?" Cisco confusingly hollered, but Barry ignored his friend for the time being as he picked Caitlin up bridal style and ran them to the scene.

Even from a distance, the duo could see the smoke rising out from the building. As he ran closer, it only got worse looking - fire was gorging out of every opening and the structure was slowly crumbling. The firefighters were fighting a losing battle.

"You know he's going to ask you about changing me when we get back," Caitlin told him as he slowed down towards the fire.

Barry shrugged as he set her down. "It was for the good of the people," he proclaimed as they made their way closer to the scene, surveying the area.

Caitlin gave him a dubious look before shaking her head humorously. "And maybe an excuse to see me undressed?"

Barry merely flashed her a smirk before turning on his comm. "How many people do we have in there, Cisco?"

"Heat signatures show that there are 10 people still left in the building. All of them are on the ninth floor - something must be stopping them from getting down," the long-haired man informed him. "They're all congregated in one area and have been for a while."

Barry nodded as he turned to his partner. "Frost, go do your thing," he instructed, poised to run, but before he could flash off, Frost called out his name.

"Be careful," she said, and despite the iciness of her eyes, he could feel her concern radiating warmness over him.

He smiled. "Of course," he answered, giving her a wink before running up the side of the building and phasing himself onto the 9th floor where all the residents were supposed to be.

The hallway he entered was narrow and filled top to bottom with heavy and dense smoke. Barry could only see a few steps in front of him. He coughed, the fumes getting to him already as he wandered further down the hall. "Hello?" he shouted.

"Help!" Barry heard from further down the hallway. It was then accompanied by more and more voices shouting the same thing, trying to alert the person who had called out to them.

"I'm coming, just hold on," Barry yelled in their direction, making his way further down the corridor. It was then that he noticed the sunken in staircase that led to a flame pit underneath it, surmising this was why no one could escape.

As Barry stepped away from the staircase and on to where he heard the citizens' voices, the floor underneath his feet crumbled and he fell through. With his quick reflexes, however, he was able to reach out and grab hold of the sturdier part of the floor nearby, his heart hammering inside his chest from the close call. He peered down and saw nothing but the rising flames. Absentmindedly, the scene made him wonder if this is what Hell looked like, but he shook his head from that thought immediately as he strugglingly pulled himself up from the ledge; he had people to save and a doctor's promise he had to keep, after all.

Once back on his feet, Barry wound his arms in circles, gently blowing some of the smoke out of the way so he could see his destination clearly. It looked like all the trapped tenants were huddled in one of the apartments nearby and that the pathway to it looked relatively safe. The small group smiled as best as they could at the hero from the doorway, the tension in their shoulders softening knowing that they were one step-closer to getting out of this situation alive.

Two by two, Barry ran the civilians out of the building, depositing them by the ambulances so they could quickly get checked over and attended to. And as he rescued the last person from the building, putting them down safely, Caitlin had just soaked up the last bit of the fire's heat, letting the firemen successfully extinguish the building once and for all.

"Good job, Frost," Barry said, smiling proudly at her before turning to admire her handiwork. The building was charred and battered, but it was still standing and no one was hurt.

"Thanks," she said, and the speedster knew that if she hadn't been tapped into her cold powers that she would be blushing. "You did a good job too. Fast and efficient."

He beamed proudly.

"Though I still want to look you over to make sure you're fine."

"I am," he insisted.

"You look like someone tried to barbecue you," she stated, reaching out to touch one of the frayed pieces of his suit, the black soot from it staining her hand. "Just let me make sure."

He fondly rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dr. Frost," he teased her, earning him a glare that he could only chuckle over. Nevertheless, he ran her back to STAR Labs without further prodding.

After dropping her off in her med-bay, Caitlin immediately began gathering her things for the examination. While waiting, Barry hopped onto the cot and peeled his cowl back over his head, letting out a heavenly sigh as the cool air slapped around his face - that alone made him feel a million times better.

Fascinatingly, he watched Caitlin's hair gradually turn back to her original brown as she methodically collected her doctorly supplies. She eventually turned to approach him with her tools and it was a polarizing sight to see her still wearing Frost's attire under her lab coat. But to him, it truly showed just how one she was with her powers and herself nowadays. It made him smile to think how far she'd come.

"Good job, guys," Cisco said coming into the lab, breaking Barry from his thoughts. "That had to be like a record or something."

Central City's hero nodded. "You were right about them being stuck up there," Barry said as Caitlin took his wrist to feel his pulse. "The staircase had fallen in."

Cisco hummed. "Figured it was something like that or just the fire was too close to the exits."

Finishing up his pulse, Caitlin then moved to open up his suit top, easing it off his shoulders.

"Ahhhh," Cisco let out, jumping ever so slightly. "Is that like a thing with you two now? Stripping each other?"

The duo's eyes met fleetingly before they turned to their friend.

"Cisco," Caitlin began tiredly, pressing her stethoscope to Barry's chest to listen to him breathe, no doubt trying to find any abnormalities that the fire and smoke could have caused, "you know I do this stuff with Barry all the time. I'm his doctor. This is perfectly normal." Her attention shifted back to Barry. "Take a couple deep breaths for me."

"Fine," Cisco conceded, "but - but Barry changing you in the middle of the Cortex. I mean...come on!"

"Did you see anything?" Barry wondered.

"Not the point-"

"Then what _is_ the point?" Barry interrupted. "Frost was really needed at the scene and it's what needed to be done."

"I-I just," the engineer stuttered. "You guys are just way too comfortable around each other lately. I mean, you guys were never fans of personal space, but lately it's like you're on top of each other. Like-like yesterday, Barry, when your hands were full and your phone went off, Caitlin didn't even ask before she was practically in your pants, helping you get it out of your pocket. And you weren't even phased by it!"

Barry pinked under his friend's observations. The speedster chanced a glance at Caitlin who was blushing too, though she was trying to keep her focus on the examination. It was true that Barry and Caitlin had found themselves gravitating to each other a little more since they started their agreement, figuring a touch here or there would go unnoticed, but apparently not.

"So, are you guys dating?" Cisco asked bluntly.

The speedster's heart jumped into his throat at the idea before he shook his head. "We're not dating," Barry answered, forcing himself not to let the disappointment of that fact taint his words, because he was speaking the God-honest truth, much to his chagrin; they weren't dating.

Cisco's brows furrowed. "You're _not_?" he asked dubiously.

"No, we're not," Caitlin confirmed while she reached for the blood pressure gauge and fastened the cuff on Barry's arm.

The mechanical engineer's mouth was slightly agape as he glanced back and forth between his two friends, watching them closely. "But - I thought - and - and you -" he rambled incoherently. He huffed. "I'm going to fix my suit," he said, seemingly giving up trying to say whatever he was going to say as he snatched the fire-damaged top from the cot and made his way out of the office and in the direction of the elevator to take him down to his shop.

As the elevator doors closed behind him, the pair turned to each other.

"Well that was…" Barry started but trailed off when he didn't even know how to describe that situation.

"Awkward?" Caitlin supplied with a quirk in her lips, removing the blood pressure cuff from his arm.

The speedster chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, very awkward, for sure." He scratched at the back of his neck, his mind wandering as she put away her tools and came back with a wet cloth. "Are we being too obvious even though we're trying not to be?"

Caitlin paused for a moment, reflecting on the last few weeks. "I don't think we have. I just think it's Cisco being Cisco - picking up on small vibes. Unfortunately, I don't think we can stop that - it's his _thing_ \- but maybe I should refrain from taking things out of your pockets and you should refrain from changing me in the cortex to ease the suspicion," she said lightheartedly, even letting out a small giggle as she began dabbing at his face with the cloth to get rid of the residual smoke and soot.

Barry's eyes softened as he intently watched her clean him up, mesmerized and touched by her care. She didn't need to do this, but she did - she always did - and he was forever grateful for it. He really did not deserve her in his life.

"You did a great job today," he told her softly as she finished up.

He watched her shrug. "Not that big of a deal."

He frowned. "Cait, that fire was so far out of control. If you hadn't shown up, that whole place might have collapsed because the firefighters wouldn't have been able to put it out - not in time, anyway. You were a hero."

Her mouth twisted up in a small smile but her eyes were downcast. Barry reached out, his hands wrapping around her tiny wrist, pulling at it gently. "Hey, where's your mind at?"

She bit down on her lip. "I just don't see myself as a hero," she admitted. "I don't see how I can ever be one, like you or Cisco. I don't know how to fight like Killer Frost, and any courage or badassery Killer Frost had is not in me."

" _Cait_."

"I know, I know," she said, interrupting him from what she figured was the spiel he and many others have told her numerous times before.

"No, you obviously don't," he said, tipping her head up with his index finger and holding her chin delicately in place with his thumb. "Caitlin Snow, you are one of the bravest and strongest people I have ever met, and I've thought that way before Killer Frost was even a thought. You're a badass in your own right and that's not a bad thing."

She sighed. "Thanks, but I'm still just a glorified firefighter right now."

"Then train with me and let me teach you how to fight," Barry offered.

Her lips shyly curled upwards. "Really?"

Barry nodded, his own mouth spreading into a grin. "Really. In fact, it's long overdue. I'd love nothing more."

She then reached forward, slipping her arms around his waist. "Thanks, Barry," she genuinely said into his shoulder.

"Of course," he murmured into her hair as he returned the hug, holding her securely and basking in the feel of her in his arms.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds before Caitlin leaned back, clearing her throat. "You better get back to work," she pointed out, "or else Singh is going to be on your ass about long lunch breaks."

His eyes darted to the clock on the far wall. "Shit, yeah, you're right," Barry said as he hopped off the cot. He speed-changed into the clothes he had been wearing prior and then took off to head back to the precinct, only to flash back a moment later, poking his head through her office door. "Wait, Caitlin?"

Her head snapped up at the sound of her name. "Yeah?" she said, her voice thick and low from being caught off guard.

He discreetly smirked before telling her earnestly, "Thank you."

She waved it off. "It's fine. I mean, I didn't want you to be late-"

Barry shook his head. "No, not - well yes - but I meant, thank you, for everything. The fire, the examination, being here...everything, every day. It means a lot to me. So, thanks."

Her cheeks filled with a pretty pink color, complimenting her already beautiful face. "Well...you're welcome," she expressed modestly, but he could tell she appreciated it by the blossoming smile that was beginning to adorn her face.

He smiled. "Alright, I _really_ have to go now," he laughingly said before speeding away.

And when he got back to the precinct, after just narrowly avoiding Singh from catching him being late, he received a text message from his favorite personal physician: _"Coffee later?"_

He simply grinned as he typed back his reply: _"I'm bringing Chinese this time."_

.

"I feel like no matter how much I eat, I barely make a dent," Caitlin amusingly said as she placed her carton of food down on her coffee table.

Barry chuckled. "That's the great thing about Chinese food: you know you'll always have leftovers," he stated before putting his own food down. "But my favorite part is definitely these little fortune cookies," he continued, fishing the two wrapped up treats out of the paper bag that had come with the food.

"Did you know fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?" the geneticist told him as he handed her one. "They were invented in America."

"I did not know that," Barry confessed as he opened up the small, plastic package and cracked open the cookie. " _The fortune you seek is in another cookie…_ " he read his aloud, furrowing his brows at the typed message.

Caitlin immediately let out a giggle. "Does it really say that?" she curiously asked, scooting closer to him to get a look at his fortune for herself. Her head then fell onto his shoulder as she proceeded to fall into a fit of laughter.

Barry looked down at her, his eyes gentle and expression amused. "You're really finding this hilarious, huh?" he teasingly commented.

She shook her head as she tried to compose herself, but she wasn't that successful as it only made her laugh harder, inducing tears to slip from her eyes. Barry could only smile at her as he reached out to wipe the teardrops away with the pad of his thumb, enamored by her melodious laugh and how beautiful she looked while giggling.

The doctor's gaze lifted to meet his as she sent him a grateful look, the last remaining giggles spilling as her eyes glanced at his lips. His heart pounded resoundly in his ears, his chest tightening with anticipation. This is how their hookups always went – they ate, they talked, they laughed until eventually this moment accumulated. And no matter how many times they've kissed or had sex, Barry could never get over the sight of the want in her eyes when she looked at him like this.

Tonight, she was the first one to fold as she leaned up and connected their lips. He smiled into the kiss, unable not to. Kissing Caitlin truly felt like coming home after a long day at work; it was just so natural and relaxing and tender. It felt like they've been doing this for years, already so comfortable and understanding of each other's bodies and so in sync with how they moved together. It made it all so seamless and easy but the excitement and fever of it never wavered.

As they broke apart, Caitlin's lips were lazily smiling and her eyes were dark and alluring. She stood up from her couch, grabbing his hands in hers, pulling him towards her bedroom and guiding him to the bed.

She lightly pushed him backwards, perching him on the edge of the mattress. Because of his height, he was now only a few inches shorter, making it still relatively easy for them to exchange a few sweet, smiling kisses. They broke apart only for Caitlin to lift his shirt up and over his head before reconnecting their lips to continue. Barry's large hands encompassed her back, rubbing them up and down soothingly as he took in the curve of her spine. Eventually, he managed to grasp the dress' zipper and he delightfully tugged it down, desperate to see her out of the dress despite thinking she looked utterly beautiful in it.

Caitlin broke their embrace again to step back and wiggle out of her dress. The speedster's eyes couldn't help but look at her soft skin lustfully as he grasped for her waist and pulled her back between his legs. His lips immediately latched onto her - kissing along her chest. He squeezed her breast over her bra as he lightly nipped at the junction between her neck and shoulder, rewarding him with a breathy moan near his ear that sent a chill down his own spine.

She reached down between them, her fingers unbuckling his belt and opening his pants. Her hand then ghosted over his shaft through the material, making his hips rise, chasing her touch. Her thumbs hooked into the waist bands of his pants and boxer-briefs, yanking at them, signaling Barry to maneuver himself so he was able to slide them off his hips.

Caitlin slunk down to the floor to help ease his pants off his legs the rest of the way. But after finishing the task, she stayed kneeled in front of him, her hands rubbing up his thighs before reaching out to stroke his semi-hard dick in her petite hands. Barry let out a low groan, licking his lips as he watched her. She was really good at this - knew just how to twist her wrist and how fast to pump, like she read the instruction guide on just how to wind him up perfectly.

Her eyes then looked up at him, catching his gaze. Her brown eyes were watching him under her eyelashes with such an exotic intensity that it made his breath hitch. She inclined closer and Barry's mind nearly went blank as she encased her lips over his cock.

"Ahhh...Cait," he groaned, throwing his head back at the tempestuous sensation she was currently providing him. "Damn," he breathily let out as looked back down at her in awe.

Believe it or not, despite sleeping with each other roughly a dozen times now, Caitlin had yet to go down on him. He figured she was just uncomfortable doing it, so he never asked, especially since he was very much content with whatever she was willing to do anyway. However, feeling her warm mouth surrounding him and seeing her head bobbing up and down on him, the experience was simply out of this world - out of this multiverse, really.

Her hand soon drifted back to his dick, stroking up and down his shaft, working in perfect harmony with her pouty lips sucking him off. He already knew he wasn't going to last much longer - he was surprised he lasted as long as had. And then her other hand rose to lightly fondle his balls and he was done.

"Cait," he panted out, "I'm gonna-" he began, but was interrupted by her deep-throating him, which was the final catalyst to push him over. "Ahhh, fuck - _fuck_ ," he let out, eyes shutting tight as a mighty orgasm ripped through him and he cummed into her mouth.

When he finally opened his eyes again, it was only at the feeling of Caitlin's tongue licking up the length of his dick, essentially cleaning up any residual cum that slipped out. The sight was hotter than her sucking him off and it nearly made him cum again, but he steeled himself.

With his blood pumping wildly, Barry swiftly picked Caitlin up and around his waist. She let out a surprised squeal as he laid her down on her mattress, tumbling on after her. From there, he kissed her soundly on the mouth, needing to feel those magical lips on his own.

"What's your favorite body part of mine?" he curiously asked as he pressed featherlike kisses over her face and down her neck. He reached behind her, unclasping her bra and quickly discarded it away.

She breezed her hands over his shoulders before her fingers took root into his hair as he began licking and sucking on her breasts. "Favorite...body... _part_?" she repeated back unsurely, as if her mind was too foggy to process what he had just said. "Umm...your-your _ahh_ heart."

Barry lifted his head from her breast, smirking at her. "My heart?" he questioned doubtedly.

She nodded firmly.

"Very cute answer, but Dr. Snow, you of all people should know that the human heart is not very sexy looking," he said, placing a gentle kiss above where he approximated was her own heart.

"You didn't say that I needed to make that distinction."

"Well, now I am. So, what's your favorite body part of mine that you think is the sexiest? A part that, if you were to make a man from scratch, that you'd might design it after mine."

Caitlin snorted and rolled her eyes, but nevertheless began to blush.

"Ooh, you're blushing. So this must be something good," Barry deducted, which caused her to blush even more. "Is it my lightning induced abs?" he guessed, his hand tracing calming circles over her stomach. "Or is it something naughtier...?"

"Bar-ry!" she hollered, playfully swatting at him.

He chuckled. "Fine, I'll go first," he compromised, leaning back on his heels as his hands brushed up and down her limbs. "My favorite body part of yours is your legs," he admitted, his eyes boring into hers as he lowered himself on the bed. "They're long... and strong... and flexible..." he said, tugging down her panties as he kissed down her thigh and then her calf. He tossed the panties to the side. "And then they lead directly to…" he paused as he kissed his way back up on her opposite leg, stopping with his mouth hovering over her pussy, "here."

Her breath hitched as he began scattering slow kisses along her inner legs, working his way up and then back down on both sides. He edged dangerously close to her pussy but retreated, causing his personal physician to let out quiet whimpers of frustration at his teasing

He smirked before catching her gaze, his hot breath hitting her loins and making her squirm. "What's my sexiest body part?" he innocently asked just before sweeping his tongue over her folds and clit.

Instead of an answer, Caitlin let out a deeply embedded moan that made his dick twitch. He hummed happily against her pussy, the vibrations tickling Caitlin's womanhood and causing her thighs to instinctively clench. Barry had to wrap his arms around her thighs to hold them back from crushing his poor head as his tongue dipped back down, lapping at her pinkish flesh, flicking at her clit as his personal physician let out low mewls of pleasure.

Exponentially, he picked up his speed, licking at her clit just a little bit faster and faster until it was at an inhuman level.

Caitlin's legs shuddered against him, the tension in her body evidently building. "Oh, ohhhhh... _Barry_ ," she vocalized, her hands reaching down to grab at his hair, while the other was clenching at her sheets. " _Ohhhhhhhhh_."

Knowing she was close, Barry took her clit fully into his mouth and sucked on it ravenously. Almost immediately, her whole body trembled under him. Her toes curled and her back arched, burying Barry's face further into her pussy, but he only embraced it as his tongue licked persistently against her, only slowing down as her climax and moans waned.

The speedster leaned back, taking in the sight of the beautiful woman before him. Her eyes were peacefully closed and her body was heaving up and down rapidly as she panted. It was picturette.

"Damn, Barry," she breathed out with a small laugh as she opened up her eyes and caught his gaze.

"Good?" he asked with a jump of his brows, chuckling as he crawled up the mattress to lay down beside her on the bed, pressing soft kisses up her neck and along her jawline because he simply couldn't help himself from showering her with affection.

She happily sighed as her hand reached out to caress his face, bewitchingly drawing him closer to share a simple peck. "Very good," she whispered huskily against his mouth before she reattached their lips, deepening the embrace, making him feel deliriously drunk just off of her kiss alone.

As they broke the kiss, Caitlin cuddled up to his side, her head falling to his chest as they both took a moment to catch their breaths and let their heart rates level. His chest tightened as he wrapped his arm around her, holding her closer. He tried not to let his mind wander and get carried away, but he couldn't help but think of an alternate timeline where they were together and he didn't have to eventually leave and he could just fall asleep with her in his arms.

He cleared his throat, knowing he was thinking too much. "So, your turn," Barry eventually said, breaking their silence.

She raised her head from his torso, shooting him a confused look. "My turn, what?"

"Sexiest body part of mine."

She exaggeratingly groaned as a small laugh escaped her lips. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

He chuckled. "Nope," he confirmed. "Come on. _Tell me_ ," he practically begged.

She was exotically biting down on that lower lip of hers and it nearly had him undone right then and there. "Fine, fine," she relented, heaving a sigh. "I like... your butt."

The speedster's lips cracked wide open. "My what?"

She playfully glared at him. "You heard me."

His grin turned cheeky. "So my butt, huh? Interesting…so is it because it's firm? Is it bubbly?"

She giggled cutely into his neck. "You're going to hold this over my head forever, aren't you?"

"Oh, definitely," Barry answered without hesitation, but his insistence was lighthearted and joking.

His eyes softened, the word 'forever' lingering in his mind as he reached out to caress her cheek, admiring the blush that was still visible and the smile he was proud to have enticed. He then leaned down, rubbing his nose affectionately against hers, his eye closing and his brows furrowing from the intensity of the emotions he was feeling by being with her like this. His heart felt so full and the temptation to tell her all of this was on the tip of his tongue.

Instead, he captured her lips in a slow and tender kiss. Exponentially, it became more passionate the longer they stayed intertwined. His whole body was tingling at the feeling of her naked body flushed up against him - his dick poking into her stomach and her nipples grazing against his chest.

"Round 2?" she suggested with an impish grin.

He grinned back. "Round 2," he confirmed before rolling her over, both giggling.

…

The next morning, Barry was on cloud nine, walking with a spring in his step and a beaming smile on his face as he walked up to the crime scene he had been called to. Joe was there to greet him as he stepped under the yellow tickered tape, giving Barry a funny look as they both walked to where the dead body laid.

Their victim had obviously died of blunt force trauma to the head, if the crater in the person's forehead meant anything. Barry kneeled down, taking photographs up close of everything before collecting samples from the nearby areas close to the body, humming pleasantly as he did.

"What's up with you?" his foster father eventually asked, still eyeing him scrutinizingly, the detective in him apparent.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked as he extracted a piece of DNA off of the victim.

"Barry, you're picking up gruesome evidence like you're walking on sunshine," he pointed out. "And while I'm all for you being happy, I just want to make sure this perkiness isn't... meta related or anything."

Barry chuckled as he straightened himself up, standing erect. "I'm fine, Joe. No happy-inducing meta in sight," he told the man, tucking the evidence he collected into sealed bags.

Joe was still looking at him. "Alright, if you say so…" he said, though Barry could tell he was still skeptical. "So where is this glow of yours coming from then, if not from a meta?"

The speedster's lips curved to the side. "A glow?" he chuckled out dubiously.

"A glow," Joe repeated. "You might as well be Dr. Light," he joked, causing Barry to laugh some more. "What is it, Barr? A girl? You have been coming home late more often."

Barry looked down, shyly smiling to himself, unable to stop his thoughts being full of Caitlin.

Recognition passed over Joe's features. "So, it _is_ a girl," Joe figured out, his tone light and teasing. "Who is she and when do I get to meet her?"

Those questions were what finally caused Barry's smile to falter. The younger man sighed. "It's - It's complicated, Joe," he said, shaking his head.

Because it _was_ complicated. He was in a casual relationship with one of the most amazing, smart and beautiful women in the world. Things were supposed to be purely physical but that was hard when he was pretty sure he had already fallen in love with her and sleeping with her recently only cemented the feeling. He knew it was stupid, and he knew he would probably get hurt, but being able to hold her in his arms and kiss her senseless was something he couldn't let go of easily once he knew what it felt like to have.

"Hey," Joe spoke up, laying heavy reassuring hands on the speedster's shoulders, breaking him out of his thoughts. "As sad as I was about you and Iris splitting, I want you to know that I all want is for you to be happy. And if you find that happiness with someone else, it's fine."

Barry smiled thankfully up at his father-figure, patting one of his arms. "Thanks, Joe, but it's not that. It's just…"

"Complicated."

The speedster nodded. "Yeah...complicated."

"Well, tell me if it ever becomes uncomplicated," Joe told him before gesturing to the dead body. "Now, with this crime scene...it's nasty."

Barry nodded, agreeing with his foster father as he studied the corpse once again. "It looks like he was punched…" he observed before his eyebrows jumped upwards in surprise. "Wait, this wound looks almost identical to the one that got punched by that meta from a few weeks ago."

Joe shrugged. "We didn't catch him, so it's possible he struck again. After gathering everything, you should head back to the station to see if the victims' wounds are, in fact, similar and if you can match any DNA," the detective instructed. "I'm going to call Cisco and Caitlin see if they can try to find anything on their end."

.

Barry flashed himself into STAR Labs later that day after work. "Have you guys found anything yet?" he asked.

Cisco hit a couple buttons on his tablet and a blurry image from the waterfront the night before popped up on one of the bigger screens in the Cortex. "This is all I was able to get from that night. It was from the restaurant down the walkway – so it's hard to make out any faces – but you clearly see the guy punch the other and then simply walk away."

The speedster crossed his arms. "If all he did was punch him once, it has to be the same meta from before, right?"

"You didn't find any DNA matches?" Caitlin asked, walking over to Barry.

Barry shook his head, frowning. "The wounds were similar, but nothing definitive could be found DNA wise to know for sure it was him."

"What was the meta's name again?"

"Fistpuncher," Cisco immediately answered.

The doctor rolled her eyes. "I meant his real name. But really? Fistpuncher?"

Cisco made a face. "He _punches_...with his _fist_ …"

Barry tiredly chuckled at the long-haired man before responding to Caitlin's question. "His real name is Bane Dorrance. So, Cisco, maybe try running facial recognition scans. He's obviously still in town and there's cameras everywhere, he had to trip at least one of them."

Cisco nodded, making his way to the main computers and starting to type at the keys. "I've been running the facial scan since Joe called, but he has yet to pop up. But we'll see."

Barry let out a frustrated exhale of breath as he looked back at the grainy picture still on the screen. He needed to find this guy. He already killed two people, and Barry didn't want to know if there would be more.

"Hey."

His eyes swiveled to Caitlin. "Hey," he greeted her back softly.

She reached out to run her hand comfortingly down his arm. "We'll get him."

He lightly smiled at the gesture, nodding his head. He bumped his fingers against hers, just wanting to hold them – hold her. He hadn't seen her all day, with work being busier than usual, but he had truly missed her so much. And this whole Fistpuncher coming back was making him feel like shit and stressing him out, but her just being here next to him, lifted his spirits and reignited his hope.

"You need to try to relax. In fact, you look tired," she mentioned, accessing his face closely. "Why don't you go home and get some rest. We'll let you know if we find anything new."

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Maybe…I just need some…coffee."

She snorted. "Coffee calms you down?"

"It does," he expressed, a small smile grazing his face as he stared at her.

She rolled her eyes but nevertheless smiled sweetly at him, hopefully understanding that he mainly just wanted to forget things for a few moments – to find peace in their little bubble. "You want to get some _Jitters_?" she gently offered.

Barry opened his mouth to answer, but Cisco interrupted, making the pair jump since they had forgotten he was in the room.

"Ooooh, Jitters sounds so good right now," Cisco voiced loudly. The mechanical engineer rounded the console, taking a spot next to Caitlin. "Get a nice latte with one of their muffins...Mmmm, I can practically taste it in my mouth - so good!" he continued, his fingers wiggling in anticipation.

Barry chanced a glance at Caitlin, who then looked over at him, her face undoubtedly conflicted about what to do.

"Ah, what about Fistpuncher?" Barry asked.

"The scan is going to be running for a while and all positive results will get sent right to my phone, so we won't miss any important updates. Plus, it's been awhile since the three amigos hung out," Cisco added, slapping Barry on the arm good naturedly. "Right, man?"

"Y-yeah..." Barry stuttered out.

"Right, so I'll pop Caitlin over with me and you'll meet us there. That fine, Barry?" Cisco asked, already manifesting a portal for him and Caitlin to jump through.

The speedster rubbed the back of his neck, but nodded, albeit awkwardly. "Yeah, yeah...that uh, that sounds good. See you there soon," Barry told them, watching as his friends stepped through the portal.

.

When Barry got to Jitters, he noticed Cisco and Caitlin were already queued up in line. Cisco was preoccupied by the bakery's display, while Caitlin stood behind him reading the menu above.

Trying to be discreet, Barry sidled up behind his personal physician, his hands grabbing her waist from behind gently, his lips close to her ear. "This is not how I imagined our evening going…"

She jumped at first from the shock, but soon she relaxed under his touch, leaning gently against his chest. "And what were you imagining, Mr. Allen?" she boldly whispered, and damn, despite her track record for keeping him alive, he swore she'd be the death of him if she kept this up.

Barry cleared his throat. "Well, for one, I thought I'd be having some _coffee_."

She turned around to face him, her lips spread wide in amusement. "Well, we _are_ having coffee…" she said, gesturing around Jitters.

"Coffee _with_ Cisco."

She scrunched up her face in disgust. "That sounds so wrong now that we've been using that as our code."

"And whose fault is that?"

Caitlin made a displeased face at him, causing Barry to laugh. She just looked so cute with her face scrunched up and it made him really really want to kiss her. He leaned forward just an inch before Cisco interrupted them.

"Oh cool, you're here. I thought it was taking you longer than expected," Cisco pointed out.

"I didn't want to rip your concentration from the muffins - I know how important they are to you," Barry joked.

"And this is why you are my best friend, Barry Allen."

"Hey!" Caitlin interjected.

"One of my best friends," Cisco quickly amended, flashing Caitlin a saccharine grin.

After they all purchased something, the trio secured a table towards the front. Barry and Caitlin sat on the one end of the table, while Cisco sat across from them.

"So, what's been going on with you guys?" Cisco asked before taking a bite out of his chocolate chip muffin.

Barry's eyes blew wide, lucky he hadn't been drinking his coffee since he for sure would've spit it out. "W-what? Nothing - nothing is going on."

Cisco titled his head to the side, flashing him a puzzled look.

Suddenly, he felt Caitlin's hand on his thigh, as if trying to calm him down. "Nothing special is really going on with _me_ either," she stated, covertly glancing at him, and Barry suddenly felt so dumb for just realizing that Cisco was only asking about them individually, not them together. "You know, besides working on my little projects, but you know about those...How have you been, Cisco?"

"Well, I've been getting back into the dating scene," Cisco shared.

"And how's that working for you?" Caitlin asked before sipping on her coffee, the red of her lipstick staining the rim of the lid faintly. Barry absently wished the mark was on his skin instead, but he quickly pushed that thought to the side, instead trying to pay attention to his best friends' conversation.

"Splendidly," Cisco said, puffing out his chest just a little bit. "Went out with a Rhonda a couple times last week and we're going out tomorrow too - she's a knockout but surprisingly loves science."

Caitlin genuinely smiled. "That's great, Cisco. I personally think it's always good to date people with similar interests," she said.

He and Caitlin had similar interests, Barry couldn't help but think. They both had a deep love for science and helping people. They both liked the same type of music and tv shows. They both liked food and dogs and coffee...and _coffee_.

"What about you?" Cisco then asked Barry, snapping him out of the thought fog he was in.

"Uhhh, what about me what?" Barry asked.

"Are you going to get back into the dating world soon?" the mechanical engineer clarified.

"Oh, um," Barry let out, nervously playing with the coffee cup sleeve.

"It's been a year, dude. Why don't you double with me and Rhonda and Rhonda's friend Jenny?" Cisco offered, wiggling his eyebrows. "That way the pressure is off."

Barry let out an uncomfortable laugh, because honestly, he didn't want to date anyone. At least, he didn't want to date anyone that wasn't Caitlin. But Caitlin didn't want that - didn't want him that way. "I-I don't know…" he stuttered out.

It was then that Caitlin's hand, that had still been on his thigh, slipped off his leg. Barry's eyebrows pinched at the action, casting her a curious side glance that she didn't return.

She then abruptly got up from her seat. "You can continue talking, I just have to use the restroom," she claimed, pasting on a smile that felt just a little too wide before walking away.

Barry worriedly stared after her until she was no longer in sight before his eyes then caught Cisco's, who was sending him a knowing look.

"What?"

The long-haired man leaned forward on his forearms with a sigh. "Seriously, why can't you guys just tell me you are together already? I thought I was both your best friends."

"We're not dating," Barry told him, again; he felt like a broken record.

"Bullshit," he hollered. "You guys text all day and are stuck together like glue when you're together. You're touchy and giggly and for some reason almost always matching! Not to mention, all those soft hellos and longing goodbyes - I feel like I'm living in a damn romance novel sometimes."

Barry rolled his eyes. "You're exaggerating."

Cisco snorted. "Not by much!"

"Listen, Cisco, I don't know what to tell you," Barry said, rubbing a hand down his face. "But we're not dating. We're not."

"What? Are you just friends with benefits or something?" Cisco jokingly asked, chuckling as he took a sip of his latte.

The speedster cocked his head to the side, wincing ever so lightly. "...maybe, yeah…"

Cisco immediately spat out his drink, coughing. "Wh-what?!" he yelled. "Please tell me you are joking!"

Leaning back from his friend's spray, Barry shook his head. "It just kind of...happened."

The other man shook his head. "No, no, no. You have to stop this," Cisco said, his demeanor tuned strangely serious.

"What? Why?"

"Listen," Cisco began tiredly, "Caitlin is like my sister. Alright? And I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"Why do you think she's going to get hurt?"

Cisco opened his mouth for a quick response but then quickly and firmly shut it, thinking carefully about what he wanted to say next. "Because...because isn't it usually always the girl that gets hurt in these situations?"

Barry frowned. "Why are you saying this? You didn't seem against us before."

"That's because I didn't think it was just meaningless sex."

"It's not!" Barry hollered, and maybe he said that just a bit too loudly, since the people at the surrounding tables shot him annoyed looks and glares. "It's not meaningless," he repeated, this time at a normal volume. "At least not for me."

Cisco's face softened. "Fine, it's not meaningless sex, but I still don't think this is a good idea. Situations like this don't usually end well."

Barry sighed. "I know, but it'll most likely be me that gets hurt since Caitlin doesn't like me like that."

His friend's eyebrows jumped up. "What makes you say that?"

"She told me."

"She did?" Cisco said with surprise.

The speedster nodded, heaving out another heavy sigh. "I don't know how I get myself into these situations. I think I'm a glutton for unrequited feelings."

His friend pursed his lips, before his eyes flickered to the side. "She's coming back," Cisco pointed out, and then in a few short seconds she was at their table again.

"Hey," Barry gently greeted her, flashing her a smile that she did not return. She instead stayed stoic and a bit tense. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she answered dismissively. "But I do have to cut this short, one of my friends from Mercury Labs called me. She said she needed me, so..." Caitlin trailed off, gathering her belongings

Barry instantly got up from his seat. "Is everything alright? Do you need me to take you to her?"

"She's fine; she just needs some friendly support," she answered. "And her place isn't too far from here, so I'll just walk," she said, starting to walk away.

"Cait?" he let out, his tone a mixture of confusion and concern.

She stopped and looked back at him, leveling him with a look of indifference that left him unsettled. "I'm fine," she insisted again, "Stay here with Cisco - don't let me ruin your good time." And before Barry could say another word, Caitlin was pushing through the doors, exiting Jitters.

Barry looked back at Cisco, who only shrugged his shoulders at the scene, seemingly just as dumbfounded by the turn of events as he was. The speedster looked back to where Caitlin had just left, scratching his head.

_What just happened?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, a little drama in here, but hopefully there was a good enough amount of fluff to counterbalance it. Lol. Also, Cisco found out, so what did you guys think of that? Please let me know your thoughts in general in a COMMENT! Thank you! :)


	6. chapter six

The minute Caitlin walked out of Jitters the previous night, she knew that she had overreacted. Like the crisp Autumn air of the city instantly slapped a sense of clarity back to her mind, washing away the jealousy she carried for a woman she didn't even know and resentment towards Barry for considering a date. Because if Barry was entertaining the idea of entering the dating world again, she couldn't fault him for that because he was allowed to. They weren't together, and no copious amount of take-out dinners and passionate sex was magically going to change that.

She was disappointed in herself for getting so worked up. She knew this was eventually going to happen; that one day he'd meet another person and she'd have to watch him fall in love with someone that wasn't her (but she's been there done that, a couple of times actually). And she also knew that agreeing to this agreement of theirs would only make that harder, because naturally after all those doses of intimacy they have shared, it would be like trying to quit a drug cold turkey.

When this all started, she had figured that the pros outweighed the cons - she still did - but it didn't make it hurt any less. She was only human, after all.

Her phone then buzzed in her purse as she settled herself behind one of the main computers in the Cortex. She pulled it out, cursing her heart for fluttering at the sight of Barry's name. He was sending her his usual morning text: _'Good morning! :) Hope everything went well with your friend last night. Me & Cisco missed you.'_

Caitlin bit her lip, letting out a sigh. Barry had texted her a couple times last night after she left Jitters, even calling her too, but she had refrained from answering, mainly because she was still embarrassed. But part of her wondered if she should start distancing herself from Barry, since their agreement may be over soon. A stronger (probably dumber) part though wanted to latch onto him like a koala to a tree and use whatever time she had left with him wisely.

Her phone buzzed again. _'I wanted to go to STAR soon. You there? You want to train?'_

Her hands hovered over the keyboard momentarily before taking the plunge and replying, _'I just got at the lab. Training sounds good, but make sure you eat a big breakfast. I don't want you fainting on me.'_

She moved to begin looking over some research when, not even a minute later, Barry had texted her back. _'Yes Dr Snow :P,'_ the message read, followed by a picture of himself smiling goofily wide with his mouth obviously full with whatever he was eating for his meal.

Caitlin couldn't help but giggle over it. She was always enamored by his antics - by him. Her heart clenched, knowing she would miss stuff like this.

"Is that your loverboy?" Cisco asked as he walked into the Cortex and over to a computer.

Panic spiked in the geneticist's chest. " _Loverboy?_ " she questioned back, nervously laughing as if the idea was ludicrous.

"Yeah, you know, Barry," Cisco absentmindedly answered as he typed things up on the keyboard, bringing up the face-recognition software that was still trying to catch Fistpuncher on the main monitor.

"Why – why would you think Barry and I…we're-we're not, he's not-" she stuttered through.

Cisco's eyes widened, a sudden realization enlightening his orbs. "He didn't tell you...did he?" he dreadfully asked, wincing.

"Barry didn't tell me what?" Caitlin trepidly wondered, her stomach plummeting.

"Well, last night, Barry…he told me you guys were, you know, knocking boots and all."

Caitlin was taken aback. "He said _what_?!"

The long-haired man visibly backpedaled. "I mean, those weren't _his_ words, but, I mean, he told me about what you guys have been doing..." he trailed off, watching her apprehensively.

"No, no, no, no, no," Caitlin let out fretfully, throwing her head in her hands, panic building up in her chest.

She reached up to massage her temples, cursing Barry under her breath. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but now Cisco knew and she was beyond embarrassed. Not to mention, Barry - she groaned as anger bubbled up inside of her - damn him, and damn him for always taking things too lightly. Like when she told him to rest after he broke his leg, but he ran out to fight crime 2 minutes later anyway; or when she told him he shouldn't intervene in something only to later find out he did; or now when she told him she didn't want anyone to know about their agreement, but he ended up telling Cisco! He didn't think things through! He didn't think about how they affected other people, despite whether his heart was in the right place or not.

"You're mad," Cisco stated quietly after watching her process everything.

She let out a humorless laugh as she felt a fury of anger traveling through her veins, emitting a coldness in her fingertips. "I'm livid, Cisco."

"Why?" he asked, "He wasn't bragging or anything, if that's what you're worried about."

"Because he wasn't supposed to tell anyone!" she shouted. "Especially you!

He put a hand to his chest. " _Ouch._ "

She stood in one swift movement, her index finger poised in front of her. "You cannot tell anyone, Cisco," she told him, piercing him with large, serious eyes. "I mean it."

Cisco shrunk under her gaze, raising his hands up. "I won't, I won't. Jeez!"

Suddenly their hair went flying backwards as Barry speeded into the Cortex, smiling goofily as he greeted them both. He then turned to Caitlin, his smiling widening just a little bit bigger. "You ready to train? I ate a big breakfast," he happily proclaimed, referencing to their text exchange from only minutes before, but it now felt like a lifetime ago.

The doctor grinded her teeth. She opened her mouth to decline, when her mind conjured an even better idea. "Actually, yeah, let's go and train."

.

Caitlin went to change into the traditional grey STAR Labs tee and navy sweatpants, as did Barry. But when she entered into the Speed Lab, hands ready to expel ice, the speedster handed her boxing gloves to wear instead.

"I thought we were going to work on my powers?"

Barry nodded, sliding punching mitts on his own hands. "We will, in time. But you can't be reliant on your powers either. You should learn to fight regularly too, just in case you are incapacitated in any way."

She saw reason, but her anger wasn't letting her rationalize with reason at the moment. All she wanted to do was therapeutically throw icicles at him with an excuse.

"Alright," he began, lifting his hands, "we're going to work on some punches - it's going to teach you to strike and move fluidly. I'm going to hold my mitt in a certain position, and that certain position means a different type of punch you have to do." He then taught her the basic punches that coincided with each mitt placement. "Then if I bring the mitt close to you, like I'm going to hit you, you're going to duck. You get it?"

Caitlin widened her stance, lifting her gloves close to her chest. "Yeah," she said determinedly, eyes on his mitts and rage behind her energy.

When Barry signaled for her to start, she wailed on the mitts, ducked and went back to wailing on them again. But as she went to duck a second time, Barry grabbed a hold of her gloves, sandwiching them between his own.

"Whoa there," Barry let out with a laugh. "Lots of power, which is good, but it's going to easily tucker you out. Try holding back just a little, okay?" he advised before clapping his mitts together and lifting them up again. "Let's start again."

But Caitlin didn't back down. She put all of her frustration and anger and confusion into each punch, ignoring Barry's shouts to lighten up, and continuing to punch and punch and punch. One punch for the agreement, one for telling Cisco _about_ the agreement; one for Barry's inability to think things through; one for the way he still made her heart flip despite everything...

"Caitlin, stop!" he yelled, backing up, but Caitlin followed, still punching. "Caitlin! Cait!" he shouted as his back hit the wall before he grabbed at her arms. He then flipped her over, so she was now the one against the wall.

Her arms wiggled in his hold, still stubbornly trying to hit him. "Let me go, Barry!"

"Not until you tell me what the hell that was all about," he stated, his own features a mixture of confusion and hurt.

"You told Cisco about our agreement!" she hollered, still wrangling to free her arms.

" _He guessed_ ," he told her, his tone hard but his eyes were beseeching, "and I have no poker face, whatsoever..."

She managed to grab a hold of his elbows, twisting and then maneuvering them both so that Barry was now pinned against the wall again. "I didn't want people to know!"

The speedster grunted before spinning, her back hitting against the wall again. "I know. I'm sorry!"

Flip. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Flip. "You left!" he yelled back, before realizing how loud and harsh it came out.

He took a step back to gather himself, leaving her breathing heavily against the wall.

"You left," he repeated, quieter this time, his eyes boring so profoundly into hers as if he was piercing into her soul. "And then you weren't answering my calls or texts…" he expressed dejectedly. "I _wanted_ to tell you. I was going to try to tell you today too, but I guess Cisco beat me to it..."

"Oh…" she let out lamely, the fury within her extinguishing as she looked in his soft and earnest eyes.

"I really am _so sorry_ about telling him, Cait. I didn't intend to - I didn't want to. It just...it just happened," he told her, wrinkles stacking up on top of his forehead in worry as his voice resembled something akin to fear and his gorgeous green orbs reflected back mild panic.

Maybe it was the sincere tone in his voice, or the wounded puppy-dog look cast on his face, or maybe it was the fact that she might not get the chance to do this anymore soon and he looked so delectable with his hair all disheveled and his arms bulging out of his shirt. Maybe it was because of all of that and then some, but something inside her caused her to surge herself forward, connecting their lips hungrily.

Barry immediately reciprocated with equal fervor, sliding both of their gloves off their hands so they could latch onto each other desperately. So much tension had bottled up during their fight, but now it was dissolving away; and the cold walls that had been rising around her heart were now thawing under his hot touch and eager lips.

The geneticist let her hands wander under Barry's shirt and up his back, admiring the feel of his scorching skin as her fingers danced along the knobs of his spine. A shiver ran through the speedster from her light touches, causing him to jerk forward, rubbing their fronts. They both let out unrestrained groans, causing them to break their connection so they each could take off their respective shirts before diving right back in to resume their kiss, as if they'd combust if they stayed unattached for too long.

The speedster reached down, lifting her one thigh up and against his hip as he grinded himself against her. She cooed at the heat emancipating between them - her loins pulsing for more as she felt his growing erection becoming prominent against her womanhood. Caitlin slid her hand down his sweat pants, needing to feel more of him when "Ahhhhhhh," a sudden scream echoed through the room, startling the duo.

Barry and Caitlin quickly looked towards the sound, only to find Cisco at the Speed Lab's entrance with his back turned to them and his hands comically covering his ears.

Red faced, the two immediately scrambled to pick up their shirts and righten their appearances. Caitlin reached over to wipe some of her lipstick off of Barry's lips, causing the speedster to blush even redder.

Barry cleared his throat. " _Hey_ , _Cisco_..." he greeted sheepishly, his head bowed and his hands clasped over his lap in an effort to hide his bulge, something Caitlin bit her lip over to contain the satisfied grin that she could feel trying to form.

"I-I see that you two kissed and made up," Cisco acknowledged, still not looking at them. "Quite literally," he added with a shudder. "Are- are all the necessary bits in place and concealed?" the mechanical engineer then asked.

" _Cisco!_ " Caitlin exclaimed embarrassingly. Her face felt as hot as burned coal. She was absolutely mortified and wanted nothing more than for Barry to run them far, far away from there.

" _What?!_ " he innocently hollered as he cautiously turned around, relaxing when he saw that both of his friends were properly clothed now. "It was a valid question with the way you two were going at it!" he proclaimed. "As much as I love you guys, I do not want to see…" he paused to gesture vaguely to their bodies, " _more than necessary_ …"

Barry sighed. "Was there a reason for you coming down here?"

" _Yes_ ," Cisco stated matter-of-factly as he walked up to the pair. "Joe called. He needs you at the precinct."

The speedster sighed but nodded his acknowledgement before swiveling his attention back to Caitlin. "Talk later?"

Cisco snorted. "Talk," he muttered sarcastically, which earned him an elbow from the geneticist.

"Yes, we'll talk later," she confirmed, earning her a heart-bursting grin from Barry before he sped away.

.

A few hours later, Caitlin was interrupted by her hair flying into her face and her papers sailing into the air again. "After all these years, why haven't we invested in paper weights yet?" she commented under her breath before blowing at a few stubborn strands of her hair that were still in her face.

"Sorry," Barry said sheepishly, chuckling as he crouched down to gather the papers for her.

"Thanks," she let out softly as she took the offered documents, placing them securely back on the desk.

"Where is everyone?" he then wondered, craning his neck to look at all the corners of the Cortex only to find them empty.

"Cisco is with Harry in his workshop and Ralph is...I don't know...I guess trying to hit on some unfortunate soul," she answered as she resumed typing out a report.

Barry let out a snort, but nodded to her assessment, silently agreeing with her as he leaned against the desk.

"Why, do you need any of them?" she wondered with her attention still on her screen.

"No..." Barry answered slowly, "but I figured you would want to talk about _us..._ in private?"

Caitlin's hands trembled ever so delicately over the keyboard when Barry mentioned 'us', leaving her momentarily confused about what he was talking about before remembering. "Right, right. You wanted to talk. About earlier."

He nodded "Yeah...Are- are we okay?" he quietly asked, the vulnerability wavering in between his words was tangible.

"Of course. We're okay," she told him, providing him with a small, timid smile. "It was nothing, really."

He frowned. "It didn't seem like nothing when you reacted like that. Cait, I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me things. If you're upset at me, I need to know why."

She sighed, biting at her lip apprehensively. "I was upset that you told Cisco, but I was more upset at the fact that you didn't tell me that you told him. But evidently you did try to tell me. Now I know. No problem. See?"

Barry watched her closely, his eyes drilling miles down into her own. She felt like he was analyzing every twitch on her face and every syllable spoken. He wasn't buying it, not completely, she could tell.

"I just overreacted. I promise. I'm not mad at you anymore," she told him, getting up from her seat to stand in-front of him, snaking her hands around his waist as she pressed herself against him in a hug.

She felt the tension in Barry's body soften in relief as he hugged her back, his strong hands rubbing up and down her back soothingly. "I just wanted to make sure we talked and cleared the air," he said against her, his grip around her only getting more secure. "Although, I had no complaints about how we reconciled the fight initially," he joked, leaning back to catch her eyes, most likely smirking because of her growing blush.

She cleared her throat as stepped out of his arms. "So, how was the precinct?" she asked to change the subject. Caitlin promptly sat back down in her seat, fingers already poised to continue their typing while she also discreetly tried to steady her breathing from the intimate hug.

Barry bobbed his head side to side a couple times as he took the empty seat next to her. "Fine, fine. They just needed my expertise on this one detail in particular, but since I was there, I went over a few reports and such."

"You're supposed to be off today, Mr. Allen," she lightly chastised him, sending him a knowing glance.

"Shouldn't you also be off today, Dr. Snow? It being the weekend and all," he teasingly responded back, a single eyebrow raised.

"We established many years ago that I don't have a life," she reminisced playfully.

Barry's eyes crinkled in the corners as he let out an amused laugh. "If I remember correctly, I believe I said I wasn't much better - which is still true. So…why don't we have no lives together tonight? Hmm? Maybe we can order from that new place on Davison street?"

She paused in her typing to glance at her companion only to find him already looking at her with his stupid, pretty eyes. It made her next words so hard to say. "I would absolutely love to, but...I can't," she let out regrettably.

He frowned. "Oh, are you working on something important?" he asked, glancing over at her computer.

She looked at what she was currently working on too, shaking her head as she turned back to the speedster. "No, no, I'm not working on anything that can't be done later. It's just that..." she paused, "it's sort of that time of the month…" she hinted, looking at him expectantly.

Barry's brows were knitted in confusion for a moment before his whole face lightened up with recollection. He cleared his throat. "I didn't" - he shook his head - "Right, okay…" he let out awkwardly.

Caitlin chuckled. "I'm sorry, not long after you left, it just-" she started to apologize, but Barry waved his hand, signalling for her stop.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," he said with a shake of his head. "It's not like you can turn it on and off…" he said. "Is - is there anything I can do for you?"

She shook her head.

"Are you sure? Because aren't you like, in pain?" he expressed worriedly. "Do you need a warm compress or pain meds? And you should be comfortable - maybe I could get you a pillow too. Do you actually need to lie down at all? Because I could speed you home, if you wanted - actually that might make your stomach upset. Maybe I can just call you an Uber or-"

Caitlin reached out her hands to hold either side of the speedster's face. "Barry. Breathe," she said with a light giggle.

The speedster inhaled deeply.

"I appreciate the sentiment," she told him, her features softening at his outpouring concern. "But I am fine. Really."

Barry nodded thoughtfully. "Well, just know, if you need anything, and I mean, _anything_ , that I'm here...except, you know, if I'm not, but then you can just text me, and I'll be here...in a flash..."

" _Barry_ ," she stressed amusingly.

He blew out another breath, dipping his head down meekly. "Right. Right. I'm going to shut up now."

.

Later that night, Caitlin found herself curled up on her couch, comfortably dressed in sweats and wrapped up warmly in a blanket. She had been browsing through Netflix's menu when she heard a knock sound from her door.

Perplexed as to who it could be, she slowly made her way to her door. She stood on her tippy-toes to look out the small peephole, only for her heart to jump as she saw Barry, distorted slightly by the convex shape of the glass, with his hands behind his back and humming along to a song as he waited.

She stepped back, licking her lips. _What was he doing here?_ She looked at the mirror she had nearby, frowning at the messy bun she threw her hair up in when she got home as well as the completely unflattering clothes she was sporting. Deciding she didn't have enough time to change her clothes, she tried to at least tame her hair before opening up the door.

"Barry?" she greeted. His face lit up as she came into view, and her heart clenched pleasantly at the sight.

"Hey," he greeted back gently, making her blush as his eyes briefly scanned over her figure. "Are you busy?" he asked already stepping into her apartment, not waiting for a formal invitation to enter.

She cleared her throat, watching him walk further into her living room. "Um, no. But Barry," she said, pausing for a second as she tried to find a way to phrase her next sentence, but she was quickly distracted by the object in his hands, "Is that ice cream?"

He smiled a 100-watt smile towards her, his eyebrows bouncing. "You bet," he answered, setting the tub down on her coffee table. "And a spoon," he said, showing off the utensil with flare that made her quietly laugh to herself.

She walked over, examining the ice-cream tub. "Cookies N' Cream," she noted with a nod of approval. "My favorite."

"I know," he stated proudly as he sat down on her couch, popping the lid off the ice cream container. He then took a spoonful of the dessert and raised it outwardly towards her. "Come on. You know you want some," he sang, patting the seat next to him with his free hand.

The doctor pressed her lips together, trying to fight off the enveloping smile that his was enticing. "Fine," she said, giving in with a fond roll of her eyes, sitting next to him and eating what was on the spoon. "Mmm."

His eyes were twinkling like stars as he watched her, bemused. "Is it good?"

"Very."

"Good," he said, winking at her before digging into the container for a spoonful for himself.

"So…" she started, trailing off as Barry handed her the spoon, "What brings you over?" she asked, eating another bite and handing the spoon back to Barry.

"Was in the neighborhood, so I decided to drop by."

Caitlin raised a brow at that. "So you just so happened to be in my neighborhood, walking around with some ice cream in hand?" she asked dubiously.

"What?" he said, "Do other people not do that?" he asked, acting like he was genuinely surprised.

She laughed, shaking her head at his nonsense. "Come on, be serious," she prodded.

He shrugged shyly, his eyes intent on the ice cream container. "I-I know you said you were fine and that you didn't need me to get you anything," he began, his spoon mindlessly digging around in the tub, "but, I don't know, I figured you might want a treat."

He took a bite, his eyes staring at the coffee table rather than her.

"Well," she said, taking the spoon from him and scooping up another bit, "you did good. Ice cream is my go to treat usually."

He finally looked back over at her, smiling as he took the spoon back. "It was my mom's favorite too," he told her, his eyes getting that happy-sad look to them that Caitlin had noticed he only got when he referred to his parents. Caitlin had her fair share of tragedies, so she knew the type of pain that even happy memories instilled.

In an effort to break the moment, she reached over to steal the spoon from him, plopping his spoonful in her mouth.

"Hey!" he playfully hollered. "That was my bite."

"It's my ice cream," she stated matter-of-factly.

"That I bought."

"For me," she said, sticking her tongue out at him jovially. "Therefore, the ice cream is mine, and I get to eat as much of it as I want."

"But right out of my hand?" he jokingly whined, pouting for the full effect.

She rolled her eyes, but relented. "Here," Caitlin said, scooping up some more ice cream on the spoon and holding it out for him to take a bite from.

Barry lips twitched upwards as he stared at her, before he gradually leaned in closer to the spoon. But just as he was about to put it in his mouth, Caitlin titled the utensil up, causing his nose to collide with the dessert instead.

"Hey!" he rang out again, his tongue reaching up to lick at the ice cream that was sliding down his face.

Caitlin only giggled.

"Oh, you find that funny?" he asked her, eyebrow and lips tilted upwards. "I'll show you funny," he continued, lightly tackling her against the couch and rubbing his nose against her face, smearing the leftover ice cream on her.

"Barry!" she exclaimed, squealing at the cold sensation hitting her face. "Stop!"

He was smiling down wolfishly at her, his eyes impossibly dark. "You started it," he pointed out softly, his lips so agonizingly close to hers, and despite the slight chill from the dessert, her whole body was burning.

Not being able to help herself with him this close to her, she leaned up, pressing her lips innocently against his. It took only a second later before Barry's mouth was moving back against hers, his one hand coming up to hold her face, caressing her cheek ever so delicately with the pad of his thumb as he deepened the kiss.

Caitlin let out a small, pleased moan, reaching up to feel the firm muscles of his chest through his plaid shirt. Her fingers grazed over its buttons, unhooking the first few at the top so she could touch his hot, bare skin against her palm. However, when she went to undo some more, Barry leaned back, making her hand fall.

"Things are getting a little hot and heavy here," he commented with a winded laugh, putting more space between them as he sat backwards.

Caitlin frowned, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she sat up as well. "Is that a bad thing?" she wondered aloud.

Barry swallowed. "Well, earlier you said you had…"

A smile morphed it's way across her features, endeared by his thoughtfulness. "Barry, just because I don't want to have sex the more _traditional_ way, doesn't mean I can't do _other_ things…" she said, trailing off as she glided her hand up his thigh and towards his groin.

"Whoa!" Barry's eyes blew open wide as he jumped to his feet.

Rejection painfully panged through the doctor's chest, so she looked away, embarrassed, wishing her powers would allow her to turn herself into ice only so she could then melt away from this situation.

"Caitlin," he let out breathily, standing in front of her nervously.

Her heart was pounding so harshly and so loudly in her ears. "I'm sorry," she attempted. "I just felt bad about rejecting your offer earlier - not to mention punching you too. And from our kissing, I thought you wanted to fool around..."

Barry sighed, but he sat back down next to her. "Cait, I didn't come over in the hopes that you'd change your mind or offer some type of…sexual compensation for earlier," he told her gently. "That's not why I came over."

She bit down on her lower lip, still too embarrassed to look Barry in the eye. "Then why did you come over?" she asked, and she hated how small her voice sounded.

She felt his hands reach out to cup her face, gently lifting it so that she saw his own face contorted into one of disbelief. "Because I wanted to spend time with you," he told her simply.

Another pang to her heart set off, but this one was more pleasant, offsetting the embarrassing heartache she had been in moments before - a hope lifting her spirit. "Oh…"

He chuckled at her response as he reached down to pick up their ice-cream again. "So, what was going on with your friend last night?" he asked curiously, obviously trying to strike up a different, more light-hearted, conversation.

"Hmmm?" Caitlin let out, genuinely puzzled by what he was asking.

"Your friend, you know, the one you left Jitters to see?" he clarified.

Realization hit her like a freight train. "Right! Right, yeah...she, she had some relationship issues...you know…"

"So then she's okay now?"

"Oh yeah...so much- a lot better now, since I went to see her...you know, last night..."

He smiled. "Well, having a wonderful friend like you to talk things through always helps," he told her, his hand extending to rest on hers, his thumb swiping over her knuckles tenderly. "I know that from personal experience," he added as he looked at her with the utmost gratitude.

Caitlin blushed, dipping her head. There were a lot of long talks in the Cortex and a few nights out on the town with just the two of them over the past year - all efforts to help Barry get through his divorce with Iris. Naturally, it was during that time that her feelings for Barry reignited too, after being dormant for so long. Maybe it was because they were spending so much time with each other again, or simply the fact that he was now single and it felt more acceptable to feel those feelings without the accompanied guilt and despair that usually came with it.

At least, he was single for the time being.

She cleared her throat, contracting her hand before tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "So, did you get Jenny's number?" she asked, trying to keep her tone elevated and supportive. She took the ice-cream from Barry, hoping it would provide a good excuse for why she was avoiding eye-contact.

Barry's head jerked back in bewilderment. "Jenny?"

The doctor frowned as she looked up from under her eyelashes. "The girl Cisco was trying to get you to double with...?"

"Oh...her..." he spoke slowly, his brows still creased. "No, I didn't get her number - I...I'm not really interested…" he told her with a shrug, watching her carefully.

"You're not?"

Barry's hand went to the back of his neck. "Yeah...I, um...going out with complete strangers isn't really appealing right now…"

"I see…" she voiced measuredly, trying to suppress the overwhelming glee bubbling up in her chest at the aspect of having him to herself just a little bit longer. "Well, in that case, if that's how you feel, then you shouldn't do something if you're not going to be 100% invested in it," Caitlin added, nodding along to his logic.

"Right, exactly," he stated softly, his eyes crinkling as he watched her closely with this indescribable expression on his face that, despite not knowing what it meant, still made her heart do acrobatics.

His eyes flickered to her TV, noticing that the Netflix menu was still up. "You want to watch a movie?"

A shy smile made its way across her face as she nodded her head. "Sure," she said gently, picking up her remote to start browsing the collection again.

"Great," Barry said as he pulled the nearby blanket over their laps before slinging his arm around her shoulders, holding her securely as they picked out something to watch.

…

The next morning Caitlin felt feathery and light, like the weight of gravity had halved overnight, as if she were an astronaut who was trapezing across the moon rather than walking down the rather dreary-looking halls of STAR Labs. Even the ends of her lips didn't feel strained as she smiled blissfully to herself, her thoughts filled to capacity of Barry and their time spent together the previous evening.

Last night, the speedster ended up staying quite late. It was only when Caitlin had noticed that his eyes were starting to droop that she forced him to leave, practically pushing a stubborn Barry out the door.

"I'm really not that tired," he insisted as he stood in the threshold of her front door. "I was just...resting my eyes for a second."

A huff of laughter spilled passed her lips. "I heard you _snoring_ , Barry," she lightly volleyed back.

He cocked his head to the side, wincing ever so briefly. "Okay, maybe I am a _little_ tired," he admitted, holding his thumb and index finger barely a centimeter wide to indicate just how little, "but we can still finish the movie."

"Another night," she promised sweetly, and just the thought of it made her heart pleasantly constrict. "But right now, your doctor is telling you to rest up. You can't do your day job with no sleep, let alone," she said, pausing to lower her voice, "running around Central City as The Flash."

He scrunched up his face. "I hate when you pull the doctor card," he told her with an endearing pout. "But fine, fine. If I must go..." he relented dramatically, taking a step back so that he was fully in the hallway. He exhaled and then look at her with the most charming smirk. "Goodnight, Cait."

She bit down on her lip, taking in his relaxed frame and tired eyes, wishing he could stay longer but knowing he needed to go, if not for his health then for her sanity's sake. "Night, Barry."

And although they only innocently watched movies, the evening stood out to her like a full moon in a clear night sky. Maybe it was the way their hands brushed as they shared the ice-cream; or how when she laid her head down on his chest, the thrum of his heart made her feel safe; or maybe it was the simple fact that they were contently being just Barry and Caitlin for a night, no strings attached or expectations hovering overhead. Whatever it was, it unleashed a swarm of butterflies in her stomach - so many that she felt weightless.

"Good night?" Cisco asked, spooking the doctor from her thoughts as she waltzed into the Cortex. "Or... _ew_ , I don't think I want to know."

Caitlin softly glared at Cisco as she took a seat behind the console. "We didn't do anything. We just watched a couple movies on Netflix."

"Uh huh...so is that another one of your code things? Like you have with 'coffee'?" Cisco asked. "Because you do know that Neflix and Chill is a thing, right? So that euphemism might not be the best to go with."

She sputtered for a moment. "How-how do you know about the coffee thing? Did Barry tell you about that too?"

" _Nooo_ ," Cisco said over a chuckle as he walked up to the console, leaning his forearms over the top. "At first I was very concerned about the amount of caffeine you both were in-taking - I mean, one time I even saw Barry text you about wanting an astronomical amount of espresso shots in his coffee…"

Caitlin bit down on her lip, trying to suppress the blush creeping up her face as she remembered back on that text exchange…and the night that it later entailed…

"But eventually, I put two and two together. I mean, you guys were going out to get coffee a lot more than usual and always together, but you would never come back with any coffee – or rather, you never brought back any for me," he continued, flashing her an exaggerated frown. "And right as I was starting to get suspicious, I got a vibe that connected the final dots and…yeah…"

Caitlin hid her face in her hands. "Do I even want to know what you saw in this vibe of yours?"

He awkwardly chuckled. "Oooh, thankfully it was way more PG than what I saw yesterday," he said, and Caitlin further groaned. "So, you guys go at it like rabbits, huh?"

" _Cisco_."

The long-haired man then let out a displeased sound, his face scrunching up unpleasantly. "Yeah, you're right...I don't want to know. Though, I'm surprised no one has walked in on you guys going at it like I did," he said. "You guys seem like you can't keep your hands off each other, all handsy and touchy and –"

"We don't do… _things_ at STAR Labs," she quickly interjected, cutting him off.

Cisco raised his one brow doubtfully. "What is your definition of _things_? Because what you guys were doing was definitely... _things_!"

The doctor licked her lips. "That was…impulsive…" Caitlin expressed meekly, wincing slightly as her blush deepened. "Honestly though, we have never done something like that in STAR Labs before…"

"Uh huh…" Cisco hummed unconvincingly.

"I'm telling the truth."

The mechanical engineer gave a curt nod. "Of course you are."

The doctor 'humph'ed, moving to go work in her office instead when Cisco reached out, gently grabbing at her arm.

"Hey," he said, his tone soft but weighty, "jokes aside, I just hope you're being careful."

Caitlin refrained from rolling her eyes. "I'm on birth control and we're using condoms, Cisco."

His eyes grew twice in size. "No! No, I mean - Listen, while I'm glad you're guys are being careful in _that_ way, I meant, be careful, you know...with your _heart_ ," he told her, leveling her with a solemn, knowing expression.

Caitlin's gaze deviated elsewhere, unable to look her friend in the eye. "There's nothing to be careful about," she feebly insisted, her hands interlocked and fidgety. "We're just good friends who are helping each other out," she continued with a shrug.

"And you truly think that?"

Caitlin looked up, taking in Cisco's raised eyebrows and empathetic expression. She bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

"Look, I know you have feelings for Barry," he instead said quietly, making Caitlin's heart plummet into her stomach.

"I don't-"

"Yes, you do!" Cisco abruptly interrupted her, his tone pleading for her to listen. "You can deny it all you want, but you're my best friend and I've seen you in love, and this..."

Her throat felt like it was closing in on itself, like a mountain of bricks had just been dropped on her chest. _Was she that obvious?_ "Does Barry know?" she whispered panicily into the tense air between them. _Was that the real reason he rejected her last night?_

Her friend sighed. "No," he answered simply. "He's absolutely oblivious."

With that knowledge, she breathed her next breaths easier. "Good, good."

"But is it?"

Caitlin licked her lips. "He can't know, Cisco. It would strain our friendship and I-I might lose him, and I can't have that. Not him."

His look was pitying. "Caitlin," he started off softly, but before either could say anything else, a chime then sounded from her phone, alerting Caitlin that she just got a message. And as she read the text, her smile from earlier resurfaced.

"Is that Barry?" Cisco inquired, watching her knowingly.

She suddenly felt defensive. "He was just sending his daily 'good morning' text."

The long-haired man snorted. "Right, let me go check my 'good morning' text from him too," he started, making a show of taking out his phone before shaking his head, "oh wait, I don't get texts like that."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "I'm sure if you just told Barry, he'd send you ones too," she tersely joked.

He sighed. "But seriously," Cisco started, looking at her pointedly, "the fact that he sends those to you every day…"

Caitlin shrugged as she sent back her own morning greeting to the speedster. "It's honestly nothing; he's been sending them for months now – way before we ever started our… _arraignment_ ," she told her friend, lowering her voice on the last word despite knowing they were the only ones in the building at the moment.

Cisco's one eyebrow rose at the new information as a finger tapped on his chin. " _Interesting_..."

The doctor merely ignored her friend. He was making her question her situation with Barry, and she was afraid that if she listened any longer that she was going to start reading into things that were actually nothing. In general, Barry was sweet and caring - he wasn't a use them then lose them type of guy - so that plus their strong, underlying friendship made this arraignment a little more emotional and intimate than maybe most casual relationships were, but that was it. _Right?_

"Hey," Cisco said, shaking her from her thoughts, "Listen, I'm sorry for being pushy and teasing you. Why don't we all hang out tonight? Just the three of us. Go to a bar maybe? Would you be down for that?" he asked.

Caitlin tossed the offer around in her head for a moment. "Will you be buying the drinks?" she asked him, flashing him her sweetest grin.

He exasperatedly groaned but smiled back nevertheless. "Yeah yeah, sure. I guess it's only fair."

The doctor gave a curt nod. "Then count me in."

… ...

Barry secured a small table, one with a clear view of the door as he waited for his friends. After his training session with Caitlin, Cisco had asked him if he would be interested in going out for drinks later that night, saying it was a way to make up for the awkwardness/tension that might have resulted from his knowing of their arraignment. Barry didn't see why not. Plus, knowing Caitlin already agreed made the decision even easier.

The bar door opened and in strolled Cisco.

"Hey, man," Barry greeted with a tilt of his head, his eyes drifting above the engineer's shoulders with a frown.

The vibing metahuman snorted. "She'll be here, dude. She's parking the car," he said, patting him on the back reassuringly.

"I didn't-"

"You didn't have to," Cisco interjected with an amused shake of the head. "I'm going to go get us some drinks," he then stated, already making a beeline towards the bar counter.

Barry sighed, fiddling his thumbs as he waited, eyes trained on the entrance. Finally, after a plethora of not-Caitlin people trikiling in, the door slowly swung open, revealing his favorite doctor.

His breath caught as he watched her timidly make her way into the bar. She was stunning and, even under the dim lights, she looked radiant. She took her jacket off and threw it over her arm, giving him a better view of her long, long legs, and yeah, he really need to divert those thoughts and divert them soon. She was scanning the room for presumably him or Cisco when those enchanting brown eyes connected with his and his heart leapt up at the smile that accompanied it.

"Hey," Barry greeted her softly as she approached the table.

She smiled as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Hey."

"Your boy has arrived with the drinks!" the mechanical engineer hollered, forcing their eyes away from each other to watch their best friend lay down the three beers on the table. "How was everyone's day?"

Barry took a moment to think. "Quiet," he answered thoughtfully. "Crime's been really low recently. Especially meta-related crimes."

"Well that's good, right?" Cisco said.

The forensic scientist chuckled. "Of course, of course. But I don't know, it just leaves me…" he trailed off, unable to think of a word to describe it.

"Unsettled?" Caitlin offered.

He smiled gratefully at her. "Yeah, unsettled," he said before taking a long drag of his drink. "Not to mention, we still haven't found Fistpuncher…"

"Who I'm still searching for, by the way," the mechanical engineer pointed out. "Just haven't gotten anything yet," he added with a frustrated pout. "Dude is like a ghost."

"Come on, guys. We didn't come out to talk about work," Caitlin interjected.

So they began talking about everything and anything. Cisco brought up a new video game that he was eager to play; Caitlin brought up the topic of Christmas gifts, since Christmas was fast approaching; and Barry had brought up Cecile, Joe and baby Jenna.

"Jenna is getting into everything - running around the house like she's a mini speedster," Barry recalled, smirking fondly. "They are very happy I'm living with them right now because I can catch her effortlessly."

His two friends smiled, both fond of the little West and her rambunctious attitude.

"Cecile is actually going to be taking Jenna up to her mom's soon. Since they haven't seen her in awhile," Barry shared.

"Speaking of not seeing each other, we need to hang out like this more," Cisco said.

"Agreed, but in the last couple months we've hung out three times now," Caitlin pointed out, Barry nodding in agreement. "Progress."

"The other day at Jitters didn't count since you went awol," Cisco said, looking directly at the doctor, who looked down ashamedly. "And you _both_ bailed on me during my _Stranger Things_ marathon!"

The speedster coughed as his drink went down the wrong pipe. "Oh, yeah...right…"

"So you both still owe me the season 2 finale. I say maybe next weekend. And no stomach ache or anything is going to stop us this time around!"

Both Caitlin and Barry shared a knowing glance before dipping their heads, their cheeks blushing madly red.

"Wait…" Cisco said, watching the both of them closely. "You - Barry didn't actually have a stomach ache did he?"

Caitlin went to open her mouth, but she was interrupted by Cisco's wide-eyed revelation. "You guys left to have sex, didn't you?!"

" _Cisco_ ," Barry grunted out, wishing his friend would be a little more quiet. He didn't think he knew anyone here, but, regardless, he'd rather not have that information announced in public.

The mechanical engineer's face screwed up. "Aw man, and you guys aren't even trying to deny it," he bemoaned. "I have to go to the bathroom. I need to try and wash out my eyes from the imagery," he stated as he got up from his seat. "Couldn't even wait another hour," he muttered with a shake of his head as he left.

The two scientists watched their friend meander around people on the way to the bathrooms before turning to each other and sputtering out giggles.

Barry leaned down and close to Caitlin. "You think we traumatized him?" he whispered into her ear.

"Probably." She put her face in her hands. "I still can't believe we did that."

"And in the car of all places."

Caitlin let out a groan. "Well, we were seconds away from going at it in his bathroom, but I don't know if that little fact would make him feel better or not."

He chuckled. "Yeah...I think it's best not to tell him that bit."

She giggled agan, and he couldn't help but smile as he soaked in the sound, his eyes softening at the adorable way her nose scrunched up. "I love your laugh," he said, his lips spilling his thoughts before his brain could compute that it did.

Her mouth dropped open, surprised by his frankness. "Oh, uh, well...thanks."

Barry blanched; he couldn't just say things like _that_ without things getting a little awkward. He cleared his throat. "On the topic of finishing things, we still need to finish that movie from last night."

She looked relieved to move the subject to something else. "Right, right. Um, how about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" he let out in disbelief, floored that she wanted to see him again so soon. This passed week they had literally hung out everyday after work and they weren't even having sex. "I mean, yeah, yeah, I'd love to!"

She smiled, happy that he agreed. "Great, but don't bring anything to eat; I'll have that handled," she told him.

"7pm like usual then?"

"It's a date," she happily replied. Barry's eyes widened, his breath taking a quick intake. It was then that Caitlin realized what she said and her own eyes grew. "I mean, not an actual date, of course. It's just an expression," she further detailed, her hands moving around frantically as she spoke.

Barry nervously swallowed, his voice high. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Right," she mumbled, her eyes darting around the bar. "You know, I haven't recognized one song since we've been here," she then said with an exasperated chuckle, getting up from her seat, "so I'm going to go to the jukebox real quick...see if I can find a song..."

"Oh, okay -"

"Be right back," she let him know before walking determinately in the direction of the jukebox.

The speedster merely watched her go with furrowed eyebrows, but he didn't worry too much since once she got to the jukebox, she caught his eyes and flashed him a grin. His face instantly perked up as he sent a smile back her way, contentedness settling in his bones as he continued to watch her just be her with all her little idiosyncrasies and quirks that only made him adore her more.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?" a voice spoke, spooking Barry; he slightly jumped.

Barry let out a breath of relief when he noticed it was just Cisco back from his bathroom break. He sighed as he looked back over at Caitlin, her lips all pursed as she still mulled over her choices. "Am I that obvious now?"

"You're getting _more_ obvious, to me at least," the other man admitted.

"Great," Barry muttered, his eyes never wavering from his personal physician. "Every day I feel like I'm just feeling _more_ , you know. And now these feelings are starting to bubble up to the surface, like they're seeping from my pores, and some days I just want to shout it from the rooftops." He let out a huff of laughter, though he didn't find the situation comical in the slightest. "I'm surprised she doesn't see it too."

"She's not going to see it unless you tell her point-blank," Cisco told the speedster, his eyes regarding him gently. "But Barry, if you're really feeling this way, you need to tell her."

Barry groaned, running a tired hand down his face. "I've tried to - in certain ways-"

"You need to be direct. No beating around the bush, just those 3 words."

The speedster looked back at his friend, eyebrow raised. "And what if I do tell her and she doesn't feel the same? Things would get so awkward. The team might fall apart."

"Things might get awkward," Cisco admitted with a nod, "but not forever. Do you really think you both wouldn't bounce back from it? We've all been with each other through the thick and thin - through betrayals and loss. Don't worry about the 'what if's' and just tell her."

Barry let out a shaky breath. He was really bad with girls, especially when expressing his interest, even worse when professing his love. "I have to wait for the right time."

Cisco shook his head. "Man, sometimes the right time won't just present itself. Sometimes you have to _make_ the right time. Next time you're alone, just let it out."

He gulped but nodded nevertheless. "Yeah...yeah, I can do that…I think."

.

"Tonight was so much fun," Caitlin said as they walked down the hallway, stopping right outside her apartment door. "As much as I love the rest of the team, when it's just the three of us hanging out, it always feels a little more special."

He nodded, his heart pitter-pattering over the mention of 'love' and _he could do this_. _He could do this._ "Yeah," he croaked before awkwardly clearing his throat. "I - I know what you mean."

She eyed him amusingly. "Well, thanks for walking me home, Barry."

"Yeah, yeah, of course," he rapidly spat out.

Caitlin smiled as she leaned forward, hugging his middle. He managed to still his fritters as he hugged back. He wished she could just tell by the way he was holding her that he wanted this and so much more with her for the foreseeable future. That he wanted her and he wanted her to want him too just as badly. It would at least save him from the anxiety that was currently rattling through his nervous system.

"Goodnight, Barry," she said as they slowly parted. She moved to open up her door, but before she could, Barry reached for her hand.

"Wait, Cait," he spoke up, his voice frail but he tried to remain steady. _Breathe, Barry. You got this._

"What is it, Barry?"

He licked his lips. He could feel the sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He pulled down his collar, hoping it would help him breathe easier. _Was her building on fire or something?_ "Um," he let out unintelligently, "I - I...wanted to know if we were still on for tomorrow?" he instead asked, and he wanted to kick himself in the ass for that.

She chuckled. "Unless our crime drought ends, we're still on for tomorrow," she assured him. "And remember, don't bring any take out. I'm going to make something!"

"Oh, you're going to make something?"

She bit her lip. "Nothing fancy," she admitted. "It's just spaghetti and meatballs. You like that?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah...I do."

"Great," she said, hanging by her door. "Well then, I will see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow. Night, Cait," he told her with a small wave.

She waved back, a shy smile graced across her face as she closed her door behind her. And as she left his sight, he let out a puff of air.

_Tomorrow._

Tomorrow he was going to tell her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me the FOREVER to write and it was even going to be longer, but I thought this might be a good place to stop. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, despite the lack of adult content. Lol. I really just wanted to show that it isn't just the sex for either of them. PLEASE REVIEW with your lovely thoughts!
> 
> Also, I don't know when the next chapter may be since I'm going to be focusing on my 12 Days of Snowbarry oneshots, as well as some oneshots for a Snowbarry Week that is going to take place in December too! If you have any ideas or prompts for me, let me know! :)


	7. chapter seven

Caitlin was in the kitchen getting things ready for dinner. Instead of ordering take out like they usually did, she had wanted to cook their meal instead, purely just to shake things up in their little routine that they had fallen in. Plus, she liked cooking, and considering crime had been down, at least on the meta level, she obviously had the time.

On one of her stove burners, she had the spaghetti sauce heating up while another burner was in the process of boiling water. And as she waited on those, she got the meatball ingredients all together and started mixing them into a bowl, only to be quickly interrupted when a knock thudded against her door.

She looked over at the kitchen clock, taking note that it was a little before 6 o'clock. Curious as to who could be knocking, she quickly rinsed her hands free of the meatball gunk and hurried over to her front door, only to be surprised by the sight of Barry.

"You know, for a guy who is known for being notoriously late, you keep showing up here earlier and earlier..." she lightfully remarked.

He sheepishly chuckled as his gaze fell to his shoes. "I um, I just got off from work, so..." he stated, his hands going deep into his jacket pockets.

Her brows pinched together, bewildered. "And you came straight here? Why?"

He licked his lips. "Well, I - I wanted to um...you see..." he started but trailed off, flustered. "It's silly, I mean, I - I needed to see...you... _sooner_ ," he paused to hold a hand to his heart, taking in a deep breath.

Caitlin's eyes widened as she took a step forward. "Barry, are you okay? Is something wrong with your chest?"

"Huh, what?" he looked down at his hand then back at her. "No! I was just...I…" he trailed off. "I'm fine. Forget it"

Her eyebrows arched. "Why did you need to see me so soon then?"

With a firm shake of the head, he cleared his throat. "So how was your day?" he instead inquired. "No Flash stuff today, so I guess you had time to work on one of your side projects. Make any headway?"

"Yeah, I did..." she answered distractedly, frowning as her mind continued to focus on the jittery way he was flailing, wondering if he had encountered a meta that could affect him this weird way. "But Barry, what-"

"What's that smell?" he asked in a high pitched tone, stepping around her and walking into her apartment.

The doctor was left momentarily stupefied in the doorway, trying to process what just transpired. " _What in the world_ ," she muttered to herself.

"This sauce smells amazing!" she heard him remark from inside, snapping her back to the present.

"Don't you dare eat anything yet!" she hollered as she renentered her apartment and marched into the kitchen to find a cheeky looking Barry standing by the stove. She sighed. "You tasted it, didn't you?"

"Ehhh," he squirmed guiltily. "You may need to add more salt."

She laughed, playfully swatting at him. "It's not done yet because _someone_ showed up early."

"But I'm hungry," he whined, slouching for the full effect. "This is why take out is so convenient."

"Take out is also going directly to my hips," she commented as she added some seasoning to the sauce and stirred it. She then swiveled around to get the raw pasta, since the water was now boiling, only to catch the tail-end of Barry's gaze moving upwards as she turned. _Was he just...?_

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he offered, his voice getting that jittery vibe to it again.

"Um, why don't you start cooking the meatballs," she suggested as she plopped the raw spaghetti into the water.

He nodded before going to rinse his hands. He came back and stood besides her, sleeves rolled up, and started doing what she instructed. However, the sight of his forearms flexing as he rolled the meat into a ball and delicately placed the food into the frying pan was distracting, not to mention turning her on. Or maybe it was the domestic-ness of it all that was getting to her? Either way, she hated it because she could do little about it, at least while Barry was here.

In the midst of her thoughts, Barry noticed her stare. "Am I doing it wrong?" he questioned, freezing in his task.

She licked her lips and shook her head, turning her attention to the pasta in the hopes that it would help quiet her mind from her thoughts. "No, no. You look like a pro, actually."

The corresponding grin that surfaced on his face did not help her with those thoughts.

"I'm not much of a cook," he admitted with a shrug. "But breakfast foods are definitely my specialty."

"I know," she let out, taking the boiling pasta to the sink to drain. "Those pancakes you made that one time were great." But once she said the words, she cursed herself. That was the morning after their first time. She chanced a glance at her companion only to find him smirking at her, and her mind couldn't stop itself from remembering back to that morning. His hair had been sticking up, his eyes tired but bright, and his treacherous lean body was out on display. And yeah, this was definitely not helping her not think about sex.

"Maybe one of these days we could have a breakfast for dinner type of thing? I could make French Toast or, ooh, I can also make a mean omelette," he boasted proudly.

"I'd definitely would be up for that," she said as she walked back to the stove, playfully hip-checking him, causing the duo to laugh, before she grabbed a spoonful of the sauce. "Here, try it now."

Barry eyed it for a moment, his expression wary. "You're not going to tilt it like you did with the ice cream the other night, are you?"

Caitlin let out a boisterous laugh as she shook her head. "No, I promise, I won't," she said through her giggles - she hadn't even thought of that.

Still playfully eyeing her, he inclined forward to eat off the spoon. "Mmm," he expressed pleasingly.

"Better?"

"Perfect," he answered, his eyes shining kindly. He then leaned down, covering her mouth with his in an unexpected but, nevertheless, welcomed kiss.

"What was that for?" she asked dazedly once they parted.

"Uhh...Well…The truth is that..." he babbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "...I...you are very kissable," he bashfully confessed.

She blushed, ducking her head slightly. " _Well_ , so are you," she admitted, biting down on her lower lip, which immediately attracted Barry's full attention.

"Oh yeah?" he let out, his face moving in closer again.

"Very," she murmured breathily against his lips before she closed the gap.

The speedster immediately let out a sound of approval as he reciprocated the kiss. His hands went to her waist, and before she knew it, she was lifted up on the counter with Barry in between her thighs. The kiss was so unhurried and languid that it felt like they had all the time in the world to be in each other's embrace. Like they were in their own little pocket in the multiverse that was solely for them. She wrapped her legs around him, forcing him closer, causing their fronts to rub together.

The speedster's mouth went to her neck, groaning into it. "How many more days?" Barry asked through a chuckle.

Caitlin laughed back, her hands playing with the back of his hair. "A couple more days and we'll be back to our regular programming," she joked, before sighing. "Are you sure you don't want me to-"

" _Cait_ ," he interrupted her, his voice firm but his eyes tender.

She sighed. "I just don't see why both of us have to suffer." She knew that if it had been any other week, they'd probably be doing it on the kitchen table or something by now. If she was going mad with want, he had to be in similar shape..

He snorted. "I'm fine. I can wait. Trust me," he said, moving to interlock their hands together, "this is more than enough."

Her heart fluttered.

He cleared his throat, his expression turning thoughtful. "Cait, listen I…" he paused to take a deep breath only to be interrupted by the smell of something burning. Both shot each other puzzled expressions before each of their eyes widened. "The meatballs!" they shouted in unison.

The speedster quickly turned off the stove burner while Caitlin assessed the damage.

"It's fine," Caitlin told him, holding one meatball in particular up to inspect it. "Only a few got a little... _well done_."

Barry let out a morose laugh, his head falling to her shoulder blade as his hands fell to her waist. "Sorry. I distracted us."

"It is what it is," she let out good-heartedly, letting herself lean back into his chest comfortably as she mixed the sauce with the pasta. "Why don't you get the movie set up while I make us our plates?" she offered, looking at him behind her shoulder.

"As you wish, my lady," he declared dramatically, causing her to giggle. And with a quick kiss to her cheek, he took off to the living room to get the movie ready, taking her breath away as he did.

.

"Well that was...an interesting movie," Barry said, scratching his head, as the credit began to roll.

Lifting her head from his shoulder, she laughed. "You didn't like it?"

"No, no, I did," he insisted. "It's just one of the those movies I think you have to watch more than once to properly figure out what just happened and how..." His eyebrows were pinched as if he was still trying to work out the ending, making Caitlin giggle.

"Hmmm, well then, it sounds like a rewatch is in our future," she said, turning to him, propping her elbow up on the couch's back to rest her head in her hand.

His attention swiveled to her, a lazy smile tugging at his lips. "I guess so," he told her softly, moving to mimic her pose. "So, how _was_ your day today, you know, before I got here? You said you were working on your side projects?"

Caitlin blew out a breath as she thought. "Yeah, usually when we don't have anything Flash related going on, we work on other things. Cisco was still trying to find ways to get Fistpuncher though, but I worked on one of my side-projects. Made some good progress too."

"What are these side-projects of yours anyway? I always hear you working on them, but never know what they are."

She suddenly felt shy; she didn't like talking about her side projects too much, mainly because she had so many of them. Her mind was always whirling with ideas to make things easier and faster and more productive, but a lot of the time those things got pushed to the back burner to help Barry with Flash related things, so they never got worked on enough to finish. She'd hate to talk about something and not deliver on it.

"Well, the one I was working on today is this project where I'm trying to speed up the recovery time for not just you, but everyone, really," she shared.

His eyebrows furrowed. "How so?"

"Well," she wobbling started, "I'm trying to manufacture a serum of some sort that would not only help heal wounds, but help heal them correctly and quickly. It would make the possibility of infections almost obsolete and reduce the need for surgeries."

"And how did you make this?"

"I'm only really using mine and your DNA," - Both of his eyebrows rose at that - "I know I should've asked, but I'm not entirely sure if this will work and-"

"No, no, it's fine," Barry quickly reassured her. "I...it's just you and your intelligence continue to baffle me," he confessed with a chuckle.

Caitlin could feel a blush making it's way across her face. "Oh…"

"So this is kind of like an ultra, magical asprin, huh?"

Her nose wrinkled. "Well, it wouldn't be taken orally, more like injected into a vein close to the wound, but I guess the premise is somewhat similar. Though, I think Cisco would have to come up with a cooler name for it."

A hearty laugh expelled from him. "Probably...So, are you close to finishing it?"

The doctor twisted up her face. "Kind of. I think I have a good prototype in place, but I haven't used it on any subjects to run tests and observations just yet."

"Well, I'm sure everything is going to be great," he told her, his hand reaching out to squeeze her knee, sending tingles through her nervous system. "Everything you do is great."

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thanks," she let out breathily.

"I guess with your big breakthrough project, you didn't even realized that little ol' me didn't stop by for lunch like I usually do..."

Caitlin frowned. "Of course I did," she told him, boldly reaching to interlock her fingers with his, which were still resting on her knee, her palm tingling as that little warmness radiated throughout her. "But I understand why you can't come to the Lab everyday."

His gaze was hyperfocused on their connected hands. "I was just really busy…"

"I get it."

"You always do," he said quietly, meeting her eyes with his - so soft and solemn. "Listen, Cait…" he started, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

Caitlin frowned, sensing his uneasiness for the second time that night. "Are you alright? You're not working too hard, are you? Because even though the Flash hasn't been needed as much, that doesn't mean you should double down on CSI Barry."

He shook his head. "I'm fine, really. Singh just had me doing a lot of mundane filing and reports," he told her, easing her mind. She then watch his lips quirk upwards as his eyes playfully caught hers. "Though it would've obviously been a lot more interesting if you stopped by," he teased, and the blush that had started receding, flared back up, and she swore she must have been red all over now.

"We were talking about how our actions that night at Cisco's were unbelievable, but I truly can't believe we did _that_ in your lab - in a police station of all places!"

His lips fully hiked up into a smirk. "You're such a rebel, ." She scrunched up her face, causing him to laugh.

"But seriously, everything is fine at the precinct? With you?"

"Everything is fine. I promise," he said, giving her hand a small squeeze, reminding her that they were still holding hands, but she was too greedy with the affection to severe it until he did. "Though they do have me going to this conference type thing on Friday…" he relaid, letting out a small groan.

"Oh?" Caitlin reacted curiously. "Is it boring or something?"

"Well, it's just a bunch of people from police stations all over the state getting together to talk about crime rates and quotas and stuff over dinner."

"Is the food good at least?"

Barry chuckled. "Yeah. _Something_ has to get people to stay, right?"

"Well then…" she started unsurely, "Are you allowed a plus one?"

One of the speedster's eyebrows rose. "Y-you want to go?"

She shrugged, suddenly even more unsure of her preposition - he probably thought she was suffocating him. "I mean, it's fine if you don't want me to. I just thought having a friend there would make it less boring."

The smile he had been sporting noticeably waned, though only minutely; if Caitlin hadn't know Barry so well, she may not even had noticed the slight shift in his expression at all. "Right, yeah...um...I would love to have you there," he told her, his lips spreading wide, but just a little too wide to feel completely genuine.

Her eyebrows pinched in worry. "Are you sure you're okay, Barry?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah! Yeah.." he was quick to say. "I just don't understand why you'd want to submit yourself to that torture," he joked.

She giggled. "Because we have each other's backs. Right, Mr. Allen?"

His eyes softened. "Yeah...we do, Dr. Snow."

…

For maybe the first time since she's known Barry, she had arrived somewhere after him. The forensic scientist had offered to speed her over to the conference, but Caitlin had spent too much time on her hair for the wind to mangle it within a second, so she took her car, telling Barry to just meet her there. And there he was indeed, his feet bouncing heel to toe as he waited outside the building where the conference was being held. He was wearing a pressed black suit that he filled out quite nicely, accentuating those broad shoulders and lean frame of his that she loved. His hair was a little more groomed and he was freshly shaved, and she was overcome by just how handsome he looked.

He reached up to adjust his deep red tie, one that coincidently matched the dress she took most of the day before searching for, as his eyes scanned his surroundings where he was maybe - hopefully - looking for her. It was then that he saw her, and the accompanying smile that followed made her heart race, and the way his eyes lingered over her, made her body tingle, and an impulse to peel that suit right off of him was more prevalent than ever.

"You look… _really nice_ ," he earnestly said as she reached him.

She found herself blushing and feeling shy. "It isn't too much?" she wondered, looking down at her dress, second-guessing her option. She glanced over at the other women walking into the building, trying to draw comparisons.

"Trust me, it's perfect," he told her, his eyes intent on hers, a grin evident in the small curve of his lips and in the light of his eyes, and she believed him, the worry instantly quelled. "Now, shall we?" he asked, extending his arm out.

Caitlin smiled as she linked her arm with his. "We shall."

.

Not long after they took their seats, the talking began, and, _boy_ , was Barry right about the talking being boring. Caitlin had been to her fair share of conventions and conferences and meetings of the like, but this one was an absolute bore fest. It wasn't so much the data they were presenting that was boring, but rather the people presenting it. They obviously had never taken a public speaking class nor knew how to speak into a microphone that didn't involve their lips practically making out with it.

However, during the lull between the 1st and 2nd speech, Captain Singh approached the table, always serious as ever. "Allen," he acknowledged with a curt nod, but a small smile graced through his hardened features as he recognized Caitlin. "Dr. Snow?" he then let out surprisingly as he took a seat on the other side of Barry, "What brings you around?"

"I'm Barry's plus 1."

"Really? How much did he have to pay you?" he joked, and her friend exaggeratingly frowned next to her. "I couldn't even get my husband Rob to accompany me."

"Well, Barry promised me some good food, and the foodie in me couldn't resist," Caitlin answered, knocking her shoulder playfully against the speedster, which caused him to reactively grin.

Singh chuckled. "You're a lucky man, Allen," he said, slapping a friendly hand against his back. "I approve of this union. Maybe you'll get your work done quicker now."

"Oh! No!" Caitlin let out frantically, interrupting the Captain. "We're-we're not dating. I'm just here as a friend, because, you know, we're just friends. _Always just friends_. Because, I mean, _me and Barry_?! That'd be crazy!" she rambling continued, finishing with a tightened laugh.

"Is the idea of dating me that bad?" he asked incredulously, and even though his tone was light and jockular for appearances in front of his boss, by the indent in-between his eyebrows, she knew she hurt him in some capacity - maybe she hit an insecurity within his still recovering heart? - and in turn, she felt terrible.

Singh eyed her strangely, his expression caught in between amusement and terror, before his eyes shifted over to Barry's, analyzing them both like the seasoned cop he was. "Imma get a drink," he said, before beelining to the bar.

Waiting until the Captain got a reasonable distance away, Caitlin turned to Barry once he was out of ear-shot, her face remorseful. "Barry, I'm so sorry. That all sounded so-"

But the speedster raised a hand, signaling for her to stop. "Cait, it's fine," he told her, though he looked defeated, and she hated that she contributed to that feeling.

"No, it's not fine," she resoluted. "You're a catch, Barry - honestly! And I'm not just saying this because you're my best friend. I'm saying this because it's true. Any woman would be _so lucky_ to have you."

A breathy laugh expelled from him, sounding to her like he was sharing a morbid inside joke with himself. "But never the woman I want," he muttered, and Caitlin couldn't help but think of Iris. She didn't think he was still so affected by the divorce, but evidently he hadn't moved on as much as she thought he had.

She reached over, laying her hand against his forearm, the action causing him to raise his gaze to meet hers. "You never know," she told him, affectionately squeezing his arm, "maybe she just needs time. That's all."

A small glimmer of hope brightened up his beautiful eyes, making them look less like a lonely forest and more like an open field in the country. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do," Caitlin responded, because he was Barry, and who in their right mind wouldn't want him?

Luckily the food came out then, and what rolled out on her plate had the doctor practically salivating, even more so when she began eating it. It definitely made up for the boring part of the evening. But when the dessert platter rolled around - a beautiful chocolate cake concoction - she couldn't hold back as she moaned heavenly with each bite.

"What?" she asked, noticing that Barry kept sending her amused glancest.

He laughed. "Nothing...nothing," he said with a definitive shake of his head.

"What, am I being embarrassing?" she wondered - she didn't think she was being _that loud_.

"No, it's just," he then leaned over to whisper into her ear, "I just thought only I could make you moan like that."

Caught between chewing and wanting to laugh, the food went down the wrong way, inducing a minor coughing fit that had her reaching for her wine in an attempt to wash the sensation away. "Barry!" she whisper-hollered when she was capable again, blushing but fighting off a grin nonetheless.

"Sorry!" he let out, but he was smirking too widely for her to consider the apology sincere. "Are you okay though?" he then asked, his expression turning more solemn as his hand went up to rub gentle circles into her back. "I can't have you dying on me."

"Luckily, I know how to perform the heimlich maneuver on myself, but yes, I'm fine," she assured him.

"Good, because I don't know what I'd do without you, Dr. Snow."

Her breath hitched, her stomach flipping. "Well, at least I know what I'd do without you," she quietly quipped, hoping the change in tone would help bring some rest to her manically beating heart. "Once I find out who catered this, that is, I might not even need a man."

"Ouch," he said, his hand going to his heart as if she had wounded him, but this time she knew she didn't. His smile was subtle, but it reached his eyes, making them soft and alit with humor, if not also containing a little bit of lust. "I guess I'm going to have to learn some new moves to keep up with the competition..."

"Maybe so..." she said before pursing her lips, trying not to show how affected she was becoming. His boss, along with some of his other co-workers, were sitting with them for crying out loud.

"Barry Allen!" his name suddenly sounded over the speakers, breaking them from their flirty conversation. Barry quickly looked at the clapping crowd and then back at her, confused about what was happening, but she could only shrug.

"Allen, stop making an ass out of our department and go on up there and accept your award," Singh grunted.

Barry's eyes bulged. "I won?!" he asked in disbelief, but when Singh's expression grew even more stern, the forensic scientist quickly scrambled out of his seat, meekly ushering himself to the stage.

Upon reaching the stage, he shyly accepted a small plaque for _Distinguished Service_ , causing a wave of pride to wash over her as she clapped along with everyone else in the room. The Flash was recognized everyday in the newspapers and on television - he even had a key to the city - but it was nice to see good ol' Barry Allen get his recognition too. He was just as deserving, if not more so, for some praise.

"It's funny," Singh started, gaining her attention as the applause began to recede, "Barry was half experienced as all the other applicants that day I hired him, but look at him now."

Caitlin raised a brow at the Captain, her curiosity getting the best of her. "If he was so inexperienced, why did you hire him?"

Singh chuckled. "I could see that he was bright and that he obviously had great potential, but I mainly hired him because instead of talking about wanting to put away the bad guys like all the other applicants did, he talked about wanting to help the innocent people from getting wrongly convicted…and I thought we needed more of that mentality on the force."

A tender smile inched up her face. "That's sounds like Barry," she fondly commented, her eyes finding her friend through the throng of people in the crowd - so many people had gotten up to congratulate him on his award and talk with him - and somehow she found herself capable of falling even more in love with him.

"I'm sorry about earlier." She turned her head to the Captain, raising an inquisitive brow. "When I insinuated that you two were dating," he clarified.

"Oh," she let out, waving her hand at it. "It's fine."

"I made things awkward."

She laughed, shaking her head. "We got over it," she assured him.

"I've just noticed that he's been a lot happier recently, and I figured he was dating someone. And then when I saw you here tonight, with him looking just as happy, I made assumptions, and for that I am sorry. I guess the detective in me is getting a little rusty," he joked.

"No," she softly insisted, all the while her heart was swelling at the other thing Barry's boss had been saying. Was their time together really making Barry that much happier? Surely it wasn't just because of her alone - probably more so the sex they were engaging in with all those endorphins and whatnot - but it was nice to think she was at least a part of his elevated mood.

"Excuse me," Singh then said, getting up from his seat. "I think we've finally reached that time of the night where it's socially acceptable to leave so I'm going to take it," he told her, winking at her. "It was nice seeing you again though, Dr. Snow. Don't be a stranger at the precinct," he said, sending her a sincere grin before he left for the exit.

Caitlin humorously shook her head, her mind wondering if Singh would still be saying that if she knew what she had done with Barry in the forensics lab. Unable to help herself, she giggled into her hand. It was probably best to keep that between her and Barry until the end of time.

"What's so funny?" she then heard behind her, only to realize Barry finally escaped the crowd of people that he had been engulfed in.

"Nothing," she laughily answered before springing up from her seat. "But congratulations!" she happily exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in a hug he readily accepted. "I didn't know you were being nominated for anything," she said coming out of the hug only to swat at his arm lightly. " _Why didn't you tell me you were nominated?_ "

Barry chuckled, sheepishly shrugging. "I didn't think I was going to win - I never win."

"But you did today."

As that fact settled in, he smiled a self-actualized grin. "I did, didn't I?"

She smiled back, her heart bursting; she was so proud of him. "Yes, you did," she confirmed. "And I think this calls for a proper celebration."

Barry frowned, confused. "Milkshakes..?" he guessed.

Caitlin let out a hark of laughter. "No, silly," she said, her hands reaching up to straighten his tie, her fingers lingering. "I'm referring to a celebration that is a little more _intimate_ and _private_..."

The way his eyes proceeded to grow as understanding dawned on him almost made Caitlin laugh again, but she refrained.

"We - we can now?"

"We can," she confirmed, and before she could do or say anything else, wind was slapping all around her as Barry ran them back to her apartment, stopping just outside her door.

It took a second to realize what had just happened, but when she did, she sprung on Barry, laying a bruising kiss against him that he feverishly reciprocated. Their pent up desires and wants that had cultivated over the past week had reached its tipping point and they were both aching to give in.

Barry contoured himself against her back, leaving kisses along her shoulder blade as she turned, fumbling for the keys in her purse. "Shit," Caitlin let out, remembering something. " _My car_ ," she gasped out just as Barry nipped at her collarbone.

"I'll get it later," he promised against her skin as she opened the door.

Once inside, Caitlin immediately flung her purse away at the same time as Barry shed himself of his suit jacket. They met together again, hands urgent on each other's bodies as he backed her against her front door, effectively closing it.

She giggled as she melted against the door, her body molding into the groves as Barry made his way up her neck and to her pulse point. Her eyes closed tight as his teeth pleasurably grazed the sensitive skin, encouraging the blood in her body to thrum all throughout, enticing an embedded moan to escape her throat. Caitlin then dug her fingers deep into the back of his hair, pulling him flushed against her as she kissed him so rawly. Their fronts aligned, the friction of it causing both of them to groan against each other's mouths, their want and need for each other never so evident.

Barry's hands went under her dress, his fingers testing her dampness, making the doctor coo from the touch, her hips lifting into it. " _Damn, Caitlin_ ," he breathed out as their kiss ended, the warmness of his breath fanning against her face, and if she wasn't so horny, she'd be slightly embarrassed by how wet she was already, but she didn't care in this moment. She just wanted him.

" _Barry_ ," she let out wantonly.

Without thinking much more, the speedster dragged the zipper from his pants down its jagged path, pulling out his dick from its confines. He lifted Caitlin's one leg up to his hip, moving her panties to the side just as Caitlin reached down to grab his length, directing it straight into her womanhood. " _Fuuuck_ …" she heavenly muttered, her head falling to his shoulder as she took in the feeling of him being in her. It had been too damn long, but it still felt just as good, and just as right.

He lifted her from the floor, hoisting both of her legs up around his waist, before beginning to push himself in and out of her steadily.

"Mmm," Caitlin moaned, her hands desperately clutching him, wrinkling his pristine shirt as her nerve endings spazzed with pleasure. " _More_ ," she breathily requested, though she wasn't entirely sure what that 'more' entailed. However as Barry picked up his pace, his cock fervently pounding into her, making the door creak each time her weight fully pressed against it with every passionate thrust, it fulfilled the need just right.

It seemed cliche to think that she was a lock and Barry was the missing key, but it was the best analogy that she could think of. Barry just got her; he understood her on a level no one else did or could. Just like a traditional key, his body fit perfectly along every crevice of hers. And just like a key, he unlocked and opened something inside her - a cyclone of feelings and sensations she hadn't felt in years (if ever) and he did it so effortlessly.

" _Oh, oh Barry!_ " she cried out, her legs tightening around his middle as the heightened feeling of her orgasm began to peak. And by the way he was watching her under his eyelashes, his chest heaving and green eyes so lustfully dark, she knew he was close too. He moved her slightly, only changing the angle of his thrusts by a few degrees, but it ended up being her undoing since she was soon puddy in his arms, pleasure rolling over her in waves as Barry kept it up, all until his own orgasm hit, his cock twitching inside her, causing his rhythm to stutter before completely stopping.

She was happy she had the door behind her for support since her legs felt like jello as Barry gently placed her back down on the floor. Panting heavily, he pulled himself out of her, sticking his dick back into his pants before looking up at her with pure amazement. "That was…" he began, trailing off to further catch his breath.

"Hot?" she hazily supplied, laughing.

He laughed too, though he sounded almost sheepish. "Yeah...definitely, definitely hot."

"I hope no one was out in the hallway," she said, grimacing slightly at that afterthought before throwing her face in her hands as her cheeks flushed just thinking about someone hearing them.

Barry gently peeling them off her face. "I'm sure no one heard," he tried to assure her, but just then they both heard a door close out in the hallway. "Well...maybe just one person?" he amended, causing both of them to bashfully giggle against each other as their foreheads met tenderly.

"We might have gotten just a little too excited there."

"Yeah, we kind of did," he murmured blissfully, their noses nuzzling.

Being so close, it was hard to resist from kissing again, so they didn't. They eliminated the proximity, their mouths latching on to each other's soulfully. And damn, she loved this. Loved them getting lost in each other - the kisses, caresses and laughter that heightened the already overpowering feelings she felt.

"Do you think we can make it into my bedroom for round 2?" she teased, her fingers toying at the buttons of his shirt, iching to feel his bare skin under her palm.

He seductively smirked, the expression making her womanhood pulse. "Oh, we definitely can," he growled before picking her up and speeding her into her bedroom, leaving her happily squealing as clothes were quickly shed and they were at it again.

.

"Your bed is so comfy," Barry told her after another round (at this point, she had lost track). He was under her sheets, but they were low on his hips, leaving his long, lean torso out on display. His eyes were peacefully closed, soaking in the softness of her bed.

She giggled burrowing herself further under her covers, seeking warmth now that their activity's effects on her body were diminishing. She turned on her side, propping her elbow up to hold her head, watching him amusingly. "So _that's_ the real reason you come over, huh?" she teased.

His eyes opened, swiveling his head towards her, a wolfish smile spreading as he too turned on his side. "Drats, you found me out," he joked back before reaching over to lay a tender kiss against her lips as a way to silently reinforce the fact that he was kidding.

Breaking their liplock, he gently wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him and enveloping her in his strong clasp. She let out a content sigh as she laid her head on his bare chest, comforted by the weight of his head leaning against hers, as well as the sound of his heart pounding under her ear.

Barry sighed after a length of minutes passed of them nuzzling and basking in each other's embrace. "It is _way_ too late," he commented with a tired chuckle, his grip beginning to loosen. "I should get going," he muttered lamentfully, the weight of a kiss plopping down on her head.

"Stay," she whispered against his chest, holding onto his frame.

His large hands spanned and rubbed along her back, sending a chill through her body. "It's really _really_ late, Cait, and we have to get to Cisco's pretty early tomorrow," he responded, though he didn't make any move to extract himself just yet. "And I am way too exhausted to go another round, even though I really wish I wasn't," he said, looking down at her appreciatively.

Caitlin snorted, her hand going up to caress his face. She took in how heavy his eyes were, but his overall expression was content as he smiled lazily at her. She couldn't help but smile back too. "No, I meant...stay the night. Stay here."

His breath hitched, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. "I'm fine. It's not like I'm driving. It'll take me 2 seconds."

The doctor shook her head. "It's still dangerous. You just said you were exhausted. What if you run into something because you are too tired to see straight? Plus," she said, pausing to snuggle herself back up against his chest, holding him tight as if she was a koala and he were a tree, "I'm extra cold tonight and I need your warmth."

She felt his body shake against her as he let out a chuckle. "Fine. But now I know why you _let me_ come over. All you want is my heat," he kidded.

Caitlin laid a kiss to his chest "And what are you going to do about that, Mr. Allen?" she humorously pondered, playfully prodding him.

He let out a long yawn as he secured his hold on her. "Absolutely nothing, Dr. Snow," he whispered softly.

Butterflies erupted in her stomach and a smile twitched across her face, her whole body overflowing with this warm and fuzzy feeling, and it wasn't because she was currently wrapped up within a speedster. "Good night, Barry."

"Good night, Caitlin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhhh, WOW. I did not think it was going to take me 6 months to update this – FOREVER sorry that it took me so long. I was writing other Snowbarry stories during those months though, so if you haven't read any of them, definitely check those out! Lol!
> 
> But honestly, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It feels a bit filler-y to me, but it's necessary going forward. As always, thanks for reading and PLEASE COMMENT with your thoughts, and hopefully I won't take another 6 months to update! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Heh, yeah, so I'm starting a story, so this will be continued. All I have to say to preview the rest of this story is that if you enjoyed my other story Text Me a Heart Attack, then I think you'll love this one...this story is going to get MATURE folks...brace yourselves. Also, PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you're thinking. :)
> 
> Also, special thanks to Caro for helping me brainstorm and come up with the title for this story!


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